Cupid and Psyche
| Reference: | S40803 |
| Author | Jan Harmensz MULLER |
| Year: | 1600 ca. |
| Measures: | 519 x 366 mm |
| Reference: | S40803 |
| Author | Jan Harmensz MULLER |
| Year: | 1600 ca. |
| Measures: | 519 x 366 mm |
Description
Engraving, 1600 circa, lettered in plate, at lower right of impression, below Cupid's foot "B.Sprangers in argilla, forma hemishphærica, prius effinxit / Joan Mullerus in ære incidebat.".
After a bas-relief by Bartholomäus Spranger (cf. Filedt Kok, Print Quarterly, 11,1994, p. 250)
Magnificent proof, rich in tone, trimmed at the margin line on the four sides, irregularly trimmed at the borderline, small repairs at the bottom, otherwise very good condition. Missing the lower white margin - which, in the first state is white, while, from the second state to the fourth state, has eight verses in Latin arranged in four columns. From the quality of the example, we believe this is a first state of the work.
The plate shows Cupid stands by the bed of Psyche and gazes at her lying asleep naked, three putti surrounding the bed, including one standing behind Cupid and holding his quiver.
Literature
Bartsch, III.286.70; The New Hollstein, II, p.189, 70; Kok (Print Quarterly, March 1995) 70, Hollstein, XIV, 51 I/IV.
Jan Harmensz MULLER (Amsterdam 1571 - 1628)
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Dutch engraver, draughtsman and painter. He was the eldest son of Harmen Jansz. Muller (1540–1617), the Amsterdam book printer, engraver and publisher. The family business, called De Vergulde Passer (‘The gilded compasses’), was situated in Warmoesstraat, and Jan Muller worked there for many years. He may have been apprenticed to Hendrik Goltzius in Haarlem. Between 1594 and 1602 he is thought to have gone to Italy, where he stayed in Rome and Naples. He was related by marriage to the Dutch sculptor Adriaen de Vries, who was a pupil of Giambologna. He also maintained contacts with Bartholomeus Spranger and other artists in Prague, which under the rule of Emperor Rudolf II had become a flourishing centre of the arts. In 1602 he made an unsuccessful attempt to mediate on behalf of Rudolf II, who wanted to buy Lucas van Leyden’s Last Judgement. When Harmen Jansz. Muller died, he left the entire stock of his shop, including a number of copperplates, to his bachelor son Jan.
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Jan Harmensz MULLER (Amsterdam 1571 - 1628)
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Dutch engraver, draughtsman and painter. He was the eldest son of Harmen Jansz. Muller (1540–1617), the Amsterdam book printer, engraver and publisher. The family business, called De Vergulde Passer (‘The gilded compasses’), was situated in Warmoesstraat, and Jan Muller worked there for many years. He may have been apprenticed to Hendrik Goltzius in Haarlem. Between 1594 and 1602 he is thought to have gone to Italy, where he stayed in Rome and Naples. He was related by marriage to the Dutch sculptor Adriaen de Vries, who was a pupil of Giambologna. He also maintained contacts with Bartholomeus Spranger and other artists in Prague, which under the rule of Emperor Rudolf II had become a flourishing centre of the arts. In 1602 he made an unsuccessful attempt to mediate on behalf of Rudolf II, who wanted to buy Lucas van Leyden’s Last Judgement. When Harmen Jansz. Muller died, he left the entire stock of his shop, including a number of copperplates, to his bachelor son Jan.
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