Martyrdom of St. Sebastian

Reference: S40802
Author Jan Harmensz MULLER
Year: 1600 ca.
Measures: 342 x 526 mm
€2,800.00

Reference: S40802
Author Jan Harmensz MULLER
Year: 1600 ca.
Measures: 342 x 526 mm
€2,800.00

Description

Engraving, 1600 circa, arched plate, lettered in plate, lower left: 'Joannes ab Achen invenetor. / Joan. Mullerus sculpsit.'; lower right: 'H Muller [HM entwined] excud:'. Six lines Latin in three columns in margin below:  Cum fera tela sinus rimantur pectoris altus / / Et lacerata tua membra crucis madent: / / Tum dulcis tibi ....

Example in the second state, of four, according Filedt Kok.

After a painting by Hans von Aachen in the Jesuit church of St Michaels Hofkirche.

Magnificent proof, rich in tone, printed on contemporary laid paper with "Strasbourg shield" watermark (similar to The New Hollstein, Muller II, p. 308), trimmed at the copper or with small margins, paper creases visible at the bottom, minimal restorations in the bottom lettering, otherwise in good condition.

Sebastian is bound to a tree with one of his arms raised over his head and tied at the wrist to a broken limb; a group of archers aim their weapons at him; a winged putti holding a palm and wreath hovers overhead. 

Literature

The New Hollstein (Muller Dynasty) part 2.98.23 ii/iv; The New Hollstein (Aachen) 114.44 ii/iv; Bartsch, III.273.23.

Jan Harmensz MULLER (Amsterdam 1571 - 1628)

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.

Jan Harmensz MULLER (Amsterdam 1571 - 1628)

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.