Dying Mattathias and Judas Maccabeus Restores the Temple, Mortier, circa 1700

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 1 Maccabees 2:49, Mattathias on his deathbed exhorts his sons, and 1 Maccabees 4:36, Judas restores the worship of the Temple. The upper scene illustrates 1 Maccabees chapter 2, verse 49, where the dying priest Mattathias exhorts his sons to be zealous for the Law and names Judas Maccabeus their captain. The old man lies in a curtained bed surrounded by his armored sons, with arms and a shield hanging on the column.

The lower scene shows 1 Maccabees chapter 4, verse 36, where Judas and his brothers go up to cleanse the sanctuary and restore the worship of the Temple, the rededication later remembered at Hanukkah. Workers clear rubble and carry stones across a great square before the Temple buildings. Each scene carries its own engraved caption with the scripture reference in Dutch and French, and the sheet is numbered 136 in the lower margin.

The engraving comes from the Bible published by Pieter Mortier in Amsterdam circa 1700, a work in which Dutch Baroque book illustration reached a grand scale. Designs by artists such as Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart were cut in copper by a team of Amsterdam engravers, and the paired scenes were printed on large sheets of laid paper. This sheet is signed in the lower margin by Jan Goeree as designer, with the engraving signed by J. de Later. The sheet is printed on laid paper with full margins, and the reverse is blank.

Framed with a wide mount, the sheet makes a strong statement in a study, a parish office or a library, and it hangs well alongside other Dutch biblical engravings of the period. It is also an accessible entry point for collectors interested in the Maccabees.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, an ink stroke in the upper margin and some chipping along the right and lower edges; the image is clean.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.