Gideon's Fleece and Gideon Chooses His Soldiers, Mortier Bible 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 6, the miracle of Gideon's fleece, and Judges 7, Gideon chooses his soldiers at the water. It is plate 67 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 6, verses 36 to 40, captioned Wonder omtrent het Vlies van Gideon, the miracle of Gideon's fleece, in which Gideon asks for a sign and finds the fleece wet with dew while the ground around it is dry, and then the reverse.

The lower scene takes Judges chapter 7, verses 1 to 8, captioned Krygsvolk door Gideon verkoren, the soldiers chosen by Gideon, in which the army is tested at the water and only the three hundred men who lap like dogs are kept for the attack on Midian.

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 J. Goeree delin. for the designer Jan Goeree and J. Baptist sculp. 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, pale tide lines in the upper margins and small chips at the right edge; the image itself remains clean and strong.