Gideon Defeats the Midianites and the Death of Abimelech, 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 Judges 7, Gideon's victory over the Midianites, and Judges 9, Abimelech killed by a millstone thrown by a woman. It is plate 68 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 Judges chapter 7, verses 19 to 22, in which Gideon's three hundred men break their pitchers, hold up their torches and blow their trumpets around the camp of Midian by night, so that the enemy turns its swords on itself and flees.

The lower scene takes Judges chapter 9, verse 53, in which Abimelech, besieging the tower of Thebez, is struck on the head by a piece of millstone thrown down by a woman from the tower.

This copper engraving comes from the illustrated Bible published in Amsterdam by Pieter Mortier around 1700, a landmark of Dutch Baroque book illustration that set more than four hundred biblical scenes before the reader. Each sheet pairs two episodes, framed like pictures on a wall and headed by engraved cartouches with the chapter and verse and captions in Dutch and French. The plate is signed J. Goeree delin. for the designer Jan Goeree and J. Baptist sculp. for the engraver, with the imprint P. Mortier edit. cum Privil. The project brought together many of the most accomplished artists in the Netherlands, among them Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart, and its theatrical compositions and rich tonal engraving show Dutch Baroque printmaking at its most confident.

Printed on laid paper with full margins and a blank verso, the engraving is uncolored, as issued. Framed in a simple dark or gilt moulding with a generous mount, a Mortier Bible sheet makes a handsome feature in a study, reading room or place of worship, and collectors often build themed groups around a single book of the Bible or a favorite figure.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning and some fraying and creasing at the lower corners, well away from the image, which is clean and strong.