Punishment of Adonibezek and Ehud Kills Eglon, 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 1, the punishment of Adonibezek, and Judges 3, Ehud kills Eglon, king of Moab. It is plate 65 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 1, verse 6, captioned Straffe van Adonibesec, the punishment of Adonibezek, in which the Canaanite king is captured by the men of Judah and has his thumbs and great toes cut off, as he had done to seventy kings before him.

The lower scene takes Judges chapter 3, verses 14 to 22, in which the left handed Ehud, bringing tribute to Eglon, king of Moab, draws a hidden dagger in the king's summer parlor and kills him.

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 J. Goeree del. for the designer Jan Goeree; the engraver's signature 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, small nicks and a spot at the right edge and some fraying at the lower right corner; the image is clean.