Georg Pencz’s engraving, “The Triumph of Eternity”, c1539

Georg Pencz (c1500–1550)

“The Triumph of Eternity” [TIB title] (aka “Le triomphe de l’éternité”; “The Triumph of Eternity on Death, from The Triumph of Petrarch”), c1539 (1537–1541), the final print in the series, “The Six Triumphs of Petrarch”.

Engraving on laid paper trimmed irregularly around the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 14.9 x 20.8 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (centre) “VT VENTO RAPITVR FVANTIS SIC GLORIA MVNDO/ OMNIA RRETEREVNT PRETERE AVTARE DEVM// PG [ligature monogram of Pencz]”.

TIB 16 (8).122 (358) (Walter L Strauss & Robert A Koch [eds.] 1980, “The Illustrated Bartsch: Early German Masters”, vol.16, p. 132, cat. no. 122 [358]); Bartsch 122; Hollstein 102; Nagler 123.

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print:

(Transl.) “Triumph of the Christian faith with Christ standing in heaven with a banner of the cross between the symbols of the four evangelists while appearing to be addressing scholars. Angels blow trumpets. Beneath this scene the earth burns and the other triumphs, Love (Amor), Chastity (wise virgin with banner), Fame, Time and Death lie defeated on the ground” (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.31532).

See also the descriptions offered by the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_E-4-270 & https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/432578.

Condition: a well-printed impression, trimmed slightly unevenly and laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper. There is a small replenished loss at the upper right corner and a few a pale stains (the most significant stain is on Christ’s cloak), otherwise the sheet in in very good condition for its considerably age.

I am selling this veritable masterwork of engraving—and one of the larger engravings by Pencz—showing Christ in heaven holding the flag of his triumphant resurrection surrounded by prophets and the attributes of his four evangelists, while on earth, depicted below, is a fiery cleansing of temporal concerns—my apologies for any inaccuracies—for the total cost of AU$633 (currently US$476.62/EUR401.46/GBP344.71 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 major engraving by one of the leading "Little Masters" (Kleinmeister), 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