Jan Collaert II’s set of four engravings (c1600) after Maarten de Vos

Jan Collaert II (aka Hans Collaert; Jan Baptist I Collaert) (c1561– c1620)

Four engravings from the series (smaller plates), “Vita, Passio, et Resurrectio Iesu Christi” (The life, passion and resurrection of Christ), c1600 (1598?), after the designs by Maarten de Vos (aka Marten de Vos; Maerten de Vos) (1532–1603).

Engravings on laid paper trimmed with thread margins along the image borderlines and with printed text and images verso.

Size: (each sheet with slight size variations) 10 x 6.1 cm

All the prints are inscribed on plate within the image borderline at the lower edge with the engraver’s name (either “Ioan Collaert Sculp.” or “I. Collaert Sculp.”), and all plates, apart from the engraving showing Christ at the foot of the cross, are inscribed with the designer’s name, “M. de Vos inuent.”

Condition: richly inked and well-printed impressions with crisp lines showing no wear to the printing plate. Each sheet is trimmed close to the image borderline with printed text from the original publication verso (two of the sheets have additional engravings verso) and all the prints are in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains or foxing).

I am selling this set of four exquisite engravings by one of the major Flemish old master printmakers at the cusp of the 16^th and 17^th centuries for AU$216 (currently US$153.30/EUR132.41/GBP115.87 at the time of posting this print) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this suite of near faultless engravings, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This set of prints has been sold

These are very small prints measuring no more than the palm of one’s hand … or at least my hand! Despite their small size, the portrayed scenes are easy to read even at a distance. This legibility of the images testifies to the original designer’s (Maarten de Vos) understanding of how to arrange the pattern of lights and darks in the compositions to ensure that only critically important details are highlighted. It also, of course, testifies to the amazing skill and dexterity of the engraver, Jan Collaert II, to miniaturise his strokes in rendering the details.

Like many early biblical illustrations, the composition of each panel shows more than a single event in Christ’s final days. For example the left panel invites the viewer to correlate the vision of sleeping apostles in the foreground with Christ praying in the middle distance and Judas’ betrayal of Christ’s location in the far distance. (My apologies if I’m wrong about the interaction of the distant figures.) See also the composite timeline captured in the second panel from the left wherein Christ is being tortured in the foreground by having his crown of thorns pressed onto his head while, simultaneously, Christ is being presented to Pontius Pilate in a further away room.