Old Master and British Works on Paper
Old Master and British Works on Paper
Six studies for The Martyrs' Mirror: A) The Torture of Geleijn the shoemaker, 1572 B) The Martyrdom of Anneken Heyndricks, 1571 C) The Burial alive of Anneke van den Hove, Brussels, 1597 D) Adriaen Wens at the place of execution of his mother E) 180 people burned under the name of Albigois as heretics, 1210 F) Pieter Pietersz. Bekjen being led to the stake
Lot Closed
January 26, 08:37 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Jan Luyken
Amsterdam 1649 - 1712
Six studies for The Martyrs' Mirror:
A) The Torture of Geleijn the shoemaker, 1572
B) The Martyrdom of Anneken Heyndricks, 1571
C) The Burial alive of Anneke van den Hove, Brussels, 1597
D) Adriaen Wens at the place of execution of his mother
E) 180 people burned under the name of Albigois as heretics, 1210
F) Pieter Pietersz. Bekjen being led to the stake
All pen and brown ink and brown and gray wash, within brown ink framing lines;
the backing sheet of each work inscribed in brown ink with the biographical details of the artist, the subject depicted and an old attribution: Jan Luyken
Each circa 105 by 130 mm; 4⅛ by 5⅛ in.
Jan Luyken created these six drawings as preparatory studies for corresponding etchings, in reverse, that illustrated the 1685 edition of TheMartyrs' Mirror. This book describes the violent fate suffered by many Anabaptists in the Low Countries from the 13th to the 16th Centuries – subject matter with particular resonance for Luyken, following his conversion to Anabaptism at the age of 26.
Other drawings for the same project, executed in a comparable combination of media and of similar dimensions, include depictions of Jan Smit hung by one leg on the gallows, on the Grote Markt in Haarlem, 1572 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum)1 and The martyr Antonius Ysbaarts, burned on the stake, 1573, in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.2
1. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-T-1903-A-4768A
2. Frankfurt-am-Main, Städel Museum, Graphische Sammlung, inv. no. 3276