Daniel's Vision of the Ram and Goat and Vision by the Tigris, Mortier circa 1700

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two Old Testament scenes on one sheet. The subjects are Daniel 8, Daniel's vision of the ram and the he goat by the river Ulai, and Daniel 10, Daniel's vision by the Tigris. It is plate 125 of the series, a fine example of Dutch Baroque biblical engraving with the upper and lower compositions each set in its own engraved frame.

The upper scene illustrates Daniel chapter 8, Daniel's second vision by the river Ulai, of the ram with two horns and the he goat with a great horn between its eyes that casts it down, set out with oval medallions showing the episodes of the vision.

The lower scene takes Daniel chapter 10, verse 5, Daniel's third vision, in which, standing by the great river Tigris, he sees a man clothed in linen with a girdle of fine gold, whose face is as lightning, and falls into a deep sleep on his face.

Pieter Mortier's Bible, issued in Amsterdam circa 1700, is one of the finest illustrated Bibles of the Baroque period. Its plates, with more than four hundred scenes, follow the sacred narrative from Genesis onwards, two scenes to a sheet, each captioned in Dutch and French beneath the chapter and verse. The plate is signed B. Picart inv. for the designer Bernard Picart and A. Reinhard fecit for the engraver, with the imprint P. Mortier edit. cum Privil. Leading Dutch artists such as Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart supplied designs, and the plates were worked with a dense, velvety burin that gives the scenes their dramatic light and depth, the qualities that make Mortier sheets so sought after today.

The engraving is printed on laid paper with full margins and a blank verso, and is uncolored, as issued. It rewards close viewing and is well suited to a study, library or quiet corner, either alone or hung as part of a series of Mortier Bible engravings, which together give a vivid sense of how the Dutch Baroque imagined the biblical world.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning and minor chipping and creasing at the corners, confined to the margins; the image is clean.