Jael Kills Sisera and the Calling of Gideon, 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 4, Sisera killed by Jael, and Judges 6, the calling and offering of Gideon. It is plate 66 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 4, verse 21, captioned Sisera door Jael gedoodt, Sisera killed by Jael, in which the Canaanite commander, fleeing from Barak, takes refuge in the tent of Jael, who drives a tent peg through his temple as he sleeps.

The lower scene takes Judges chapter 6, verses 11 to 21, captioned Roeping en offerhande van Gideon, the calling and offering of Gideon, in which the angel of the Lord appears to Gideon under the oak at Ophrah and touches his offering with his staff so that fire rises from the rock and consumes it.

Pieter Mortier (1661 to 1711) was one of the leading publishers of Amsterdam, and his great illustrated Bible of 1700, the Historie des Ouden en Nieuwen Testaments, was among the most ambitious picture Bibles of the Dutch Golden Age, with more than four hundred scenes engraved on copper. The sheets were laid out as here, two scenes one above the other within engraved frames, each with its own cartouche giving the scripture reference and a caption in Dutch and French. The plate is signed Goeree Inv. for the designer Jan Goeree; the engraver's signature at lower right is only partly legible. Mortier drew on the best draughtsmen and engravers working in Amsterdam, among them Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken, Jan Luyken and Bernard Picart, and the result is a monument of Dutch Baroque book illustration.

The sheet is printed on laid paper with full margins and a blank verso, and it is uncolored, as issued. A Mortier Bible engraving of this quality suits a study, library or hallway, and it hangs particularly well with other sheets from the same Bible, where the framed double compositions build into a striking group. It would also make a thoughtful gift for anyone with an interest in the Old Testament, Dutch art or the history of the printed Bible.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few small spots and minor corner creasing and soiling in the margins; the image itself is clean.