Micaiah's Prophecy and Death of King Ahab in Battle, Pieter Mortier, circa 1700

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 1 Kings 22:5 to 28, Micaiah foretells the outcome of the war against the Syrians, and 1 Kings 22:29 to 37, Ahab mortally wounded by an arrow. The upper scene illustrates 1 Kings chapter 22, where the prophet Micaiah, against the four hundred prophets who promised victory, foretells to King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah that the war against the Syrians will end in disaster. The two kings sit enthroned before their soldiers while Micaiah and a second prophet argue before them.

The lower scene shows the battle at Ramoth Gilead, 1 Kings chapter 22, verses 29 to 37, where Ahab, disguised, is struck by an arrow drawn at a venture and dies in his chariot. Chariots, horsemen and foot soldiers clash in a wide battle landscape under a mountain. Each scene carries its own engraved caption with the scripture reference in Dutch and French, and the sheet is numbered 104 in the lower margin.

Mortier's illustrated Bible stands among the landmarks of Dutch Baroque book illustration. The Amsterdam publisher brought together a team of designers and engravers, with contributing artists including Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart, to produce a continuous pictorial narrative of scripture, each copper plate carrying two scenes framed like paintings hung on a wall. This sheet is signed in the lower margin by Ottmar Elliger as designer, with the engraving signed by J. de Later. The sheet is printed on laid paper with full margins, and the reverse is blank.

For display, the tall double composition works well in a hallway or beside a bookcase, and a pair or group of Mortier sheets makes a coherent wall of Baroque religious art. Collectors of engravings illustrating the Books of Kings will find it a well documented and attractive example.

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

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