Jonah Preaches at Nineveh and Jonah Under the Gourd, 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 Jonah 3, Jonah preaches at Nineveh, and Jonah 4, Jonah sits under the miraculous plant. It is plate 128 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 Jonah chapter 3, in which the prophet, delivered from the great fish, goes at last to Nineveh and proclaims that in forty days the city shall be overthrown, so that the king and people repent in sackcloth.

The lower scene takes Jonah chapter 4, captioned Jonas zittende onder den wonderboom, Jonah sitting under the miraculous plant. Jonah sits outside the city beneath the broad leaved gourd that the Lord has made to grow over him, looking down across a wide landscape to the towers and harbor of Nineveh as the sun beats down.

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 B. Picart inv. for the designer Bernard Picart; the engraver's signature at lower right is only partly legible. 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, a few small spots and minor chips and creasing at the right corners; the image itself is clean.