Antonio Tempesta’s etching, “Cerialis Driving the Dutch into the Rhine”, 1612

Antonio Tempesta (1555? –1630)

“Cerialis Driving the Dutch into the Rhine” (aka “Cerialis drijft de Bataven in de Rijn”; “Cerialis drives the Batavians into the Rhine”), 1612, plate 30 from the series, “The Batavian Revolt” (aka “The War of the Romans Against the Batavians”), possibly based on a lost preparatory drawing by Otto van Veen (aka Venius) (1556–1629)—the teacher of Rubens.

Etching on laid paper, trimmed around the platemark on three sides and slightly within on the right side, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 16.9 x 21 cm; (image borderline) 14.8 x 20.7 cm.

Inscribed on plate within the image borderline with Antonio Tempesta’s ligature monogram (“AT”) under the foot of the archer on the far-left side.

Lettered on plate below the image borderline: (left in four lines of Dutch text) “Des anderen daeghs is den slagh aenghegaen, neffens den Ryn: hier hadde/ Civilis bycans de victorie: maer Cerialis door aduys van eenen overlooper/ schickt ruyters van achter dor t’verdroncken landt, daer den grondt hart/ was; ende wint den slagh, dryuende de Hollanders in den Ryn.”; (centre) “30”; (right in four lines of Latin text) “Postridie iterum acriter ad Rhenum pugnatur; victoria penes/ Civilem stetisset, ni perfuga Batavus Cerialem adijsset,/ terga hostium promittens, se per extrema paludism eques mittere-/ tur, qui deinde circumfusus hosti Batavos in Rhenum compulit.”

Eckhard Leuschner (2007) in his commentary on this print (TIB vol, 35, Part 2 [Commentary], p. 146) offers the following insight regarding the context of this illustration:

“Illustrates Tacitus, Histories, V, 18: Due to the treachery of a Batavian deserter, the Dutch troops are defeated by Cerialis and driven into the Rhine. A picture by Otto van Veen, titularly on the same subject, but composed very differently, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (A 431).”

State i (of ii) “without text on the verso” (TIB 3501.526 S1 12)

TIB 3501.526 S1 12 (B 589) (Eckhard Leuschner 2007, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Antonio Tempesta", vol. 35. Part 2 [Commentary], New York, Abaris Books, p. 146, cat. no. [3501] .526 S1 122); TIB (Buffa 1984) 35.589 (145) (Sebastian Buffa [ed.] 1984, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Masters of the Sixteenth Century: Antonio Tempesta”, vol. 35, New York, Abaris Books, p. 318, cat. no. 589 [145]).

See also the description of this print offered by the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.439313.

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression showing a few areas of wear to the printing plate, trimmed with a narrow margin around the image borderline and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is in an excellent condition for its considerable age with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this strong impression of a rare print exemplifying the Baroque period style, for the total cost of AU$304 (currently US$232.26/EUR196.91/GBP168.41 at the time of posting this print) including Express Mail (EMS) 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 relatively small etching showing a grand scale battle scene, 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