Harmen Jansz. Muller's engraving, “Man finds Salvation in the Church of Christ”, 1565

Harmen Jansz. Muller (1540–1617)

“Man finds Salvation in the Church of Christ” (De Mens vindt redding in de kerk van Christus), 1565, plate 4 from the series of five engravings (New Hollstein 445-448), “Christ as the Good Samaritan“, after Maarten van Heemskerck (1498–1574) with lettered verse by classical scholar and Latin poet, Hadrianus Junius (aka Adriaen de Jonghe) (1511–1575), published in Amsterdam.

Engraving on laid paper backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 23.2 x 28 cm; (plate) 20.3 x 25 cm; (image borderline) 19.2 x 24.8 cm

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline below St Peter’s right foot: “"MHeemskerck In"; entwined initials of the fecit note at the base of the second column on the left: "HML F".

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: “ILLE NOMISMA … ITER,”

State i (of i); early impression (based on the lines showing minimal signs of wear to the printing plate).

New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 448 (Maarten van Heemskerck) (Ilja Veldman [comp.] 1993–94, “The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450–1700: Maarten van Heemskerck”, Roosendaal, Koninklijke Van Poll, vol. 2, p. 134, cat. no. 448); New Hollstein (Dutch & Flemish) 66 (The Muller Dynasty [Harmen Jansz Muller]) (Ger Luijten et al. [eds.] 1999, “The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450–1700: The Muller Dynasty”, Rotterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum Sound and Vision Publ., vol. 1, p. 148, cat. no. 66).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

(Transl.) “Man finds salvation in the church of Christ. He stands with folded hands next to Christ, who hands a Bible to Peter. Two church buildings in the background. At the bottom in the margin a verse in Latin. Variant to the parable of the Good Samaritan.”

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.157024

Note: the British Museum holds the first plate of the series, “Christ as the Good Samaritan“, but the museum does not have this engraving (see the BM curator’s comment for 1875,0710.424).

Condition: a crisp, well-printed early impression with margins (approx. 1.5 cm). The sheet is in excellent condition (i.e. there are no holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing) laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper.

I am selling this superb early engraving from 1565—the year that Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted “Hunters in the Snow” during what is now called Europe’s “Little Ice Age”—for the total cost of AU$305 (currently US$206.89/EUR186.43/GBP170.35 at the time of this listing) 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 iconic engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold