Property from the Collection formed by Dr. Einar Perman (1893-1976), Stockholm
Johannes Wierix
The sacrifices of Cain and Abel
拍賣已結束
January 31, 05:59 PM GMT
估價
5,000 - 7,000 USD
拍品資料
描述
Johannes Wierix
Antwerp 1549 - circa 1620 Brussels
The sacrifices of Cain and Abel
Pen and brown ink on vellum;
signed in brown ink, lower center: Iohan Wiricx inue
91 by 120 mm; 3 ⅝ by 4 ¾ in.
by descent to the present owners
Though Johannes (or Jan) Wierix came from an illustrious Antwerp printmaking family, and was himself active in that medium, it is as a draughtsman rather than an engraver that his artistic achievements are the most notable.1 Wierix has left a corpus of some 250 fine drawings, in a number of cases repeating the same subjects, all executed in a very minute, engraving-like style, in the rather fugitive technique of brown ink on vellum.
The subject is the biblical moment when Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve, make sacrifices to God, who favors those of Abel, causing Cain to kill Abel in a fit of jealous rage. The mortal struggle between the brothers - the most frequently depicted moment in this story - is here seen only in the far distance.
1. Z. van Ruyven-Zeman, "'Stuckxken met de penne': Drawings by the Engraver Johannes Wierix", Master Drawings, vol. XLII, no 3, 2004, pp. 237-257
