The Altar of Witness and Joshua Renews the Covenant, 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 Joshua 22, the dispute over the altar of witness, and Joshua 24, Joshua renews the covenant. It is plate 64 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 Joshua chapter 22, verse 10 and following, captioned Oneenigheydt aengaende het Altaer der getuygenisse, the dispute about the altar of witness, in which the tribes beyond the Jordan build a great altar and the rest of Israel, fearing rebellion, sends Phinehas and the princes to challenge them.

The lower scene takes Joshua chapter 24, in which the aged Joshua gathers the tribes at Shechem, renews the covenant between God and the people and sets up a great stone under the oak as a witness.

Pieter Mortier's Bible, issued in Amsterdam circa 1700, is one of the finest illustrated Bibles of the Baroque period. Its plates, with more than four hundred scenes, follow the sacred narrative from Genesis onwards, two scenes to a sheet, each captioned in Dutch and French beneath the chapter and verse. The plate is signed O. Elgers Inv. for the designer Ottmar Elliger and J. Mulder fe. for the engraver Joseph Mulder, with the imprint P. Mortier edit. cum Privil. Leading Dutch artists such as Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart supplied designs, and the plates were worked with a dense, velvety burin that gives the scenes their dramatic light and depth, the qualities that make Mortier sheets so sought after today.

The engraving is printed on laid paper with full margins and a blank verso, and is uncolored, as issued. It rewards close viewing and is well suited to a study, library or quiet corner, either alone or hung as part of a series of Mortier Bible engravings, which together give a vivid sense of how the Dutch Baroque imagined the biblical world.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning and minor wear at the edges and lower right corner; the image itself is clean and strong.