Job Hears of His Losses and Job Visited by His Friends, Mortier, circa 1700

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: Job 1:13 to 21, Job receives news of his misfortunes, and Job 2:7 to 12, Job on the dunghill visited by his three friends. The upper scene illustrates Job chapter 1, verses 13 to 21, in which messenger after messenger brings Job news of disaster: his oxen and asses taken, his sheep and servants burned, his camels carried off and his children killed when the house fell. Job sits in a draped interior while the servants rush in, and through the columns a burning landscape shows what has been lost.

The lower scene shows Job chapter 2, verses 7 to 12, where Job, struck with sores, sits on the dunghill among ruins and is visited by three of his friends, who at first could not recognise him and wept. His wife stands behind him, and one of the friends has fallen prostrate on the ground in grief. Each scene carries its own engraved caption with the scripture reference in Dutch and French, and the sheet is numbered 118 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 Bernard Picart as designer, with the engraving signed by Gouwen. 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 Book of Job.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a small spot and some gray soiling in the right margin, and slightly frayed edges; the image itself is clean and strong.

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