David Takes Saul's Spear and Defeats the Amalekites, 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 1 Samuel 26, David takes Saul's spear and water jug, and 1 Samuel 30, David defeats the Amalekites. It is plate 85 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 1 Samuel chapter 26, captioned David neemt in 't Leger van Saul zijn spiets en waterfleech wech, David takes Saul's spear and water jug from his camp. Entering the sleeping camp by night with Abishai, David spares the king a second time and carries off his spear and cruse of water.

The lower scene takes 1 Samuel chapter 30, in which David pursues the Amalekites who have raided and burned Ziklag and carried off the women and children, falls upon them and recovers everything that was taken.

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 O. Elgers inv. at lower left for the designer Ottmar Elliger, 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, some soiling and a small dark spot in the left margin, and small losses at the lower right corner; the image is clean.