Tobias Drives Out the Demon and Heals Tobit's Blindness, Mortier circa 1700

This original copper engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, published in Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two scenes from the Apocrypha on one sheet. The subjects are Tobit 8, Tobias drives away the evil spirit, and Tobit 11, Tobias heals his father's blindness. It is plate 130 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 the Book of Tobit, chapter 8, captioned Tobias verdryft den quaaden geest, Tobias drives out the evil spirit. In the curtained bridal chamber Tobias kneels in prayer before a smoking vessel in which he burns the heart and liver of the fish, while Sara stands at left, and the demon Asmodeus is put to flight.

The lower scene takes Tobit chapter 11, captioned De blindheit van den ouden Tobias door den Jongen genezen, the blindness of old Tobit cured by his son. Before the steps of the house Tobias rubs the gall of the fish on his father's eyes, while Anna looks on and servants unload the camels and asses of the returning caravan.

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. No designer or engraver signature is present on this sheet; it carries 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, a few spots and minor soiling and edge wear in the margins; the image itself is clean.