Description
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-c. 1569) (after) The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Multae tribulationes justorum...) 1556. Engraved by Pieter van der Heyden. 325 x 242. Van Bastelaer 119; New Hollstein (Bruegel) 27.10; Orenstein 37. Good proof on thin laid paper, slightly late, a bit gray, with fine perceptible scuffing at the foot of the subject, trimmed on the square line, well complete with the tablet, pasted by the upper corners on laid paper. Tiny snags along top edge, with small, unobtrusive old restorations to verso. A small gap under the word "tribulationes," also filled on the verso. Several fine vertical folds and slight surface ripples in the upper part of the subject. Provenance: Estate of Pierre Hautot " The 1556 Temptation of St. Anthony is the first work to make Bruegel appear as a second Bosch . It is the preparatory drawing preserved in Oxford that indicates the authorship of the engraving, which bears only the address of Cock, the publisher. (...) One of the main sources of inspiration for the man's head surmounted by a fish was undoubtedly The Tree Man. This figure, perhaps the most successful of all the strange creatures invented by Bosch, appears twice in his own works and countless times in those of his followers. In most cases, the imitations are uninspired, but here the result is a striking image that can - almost - rival its model. Such images were considered entertaining, as their description of the time indicates. In 1558, Martin le Jeune, a bookseller in Paris, received twelve copies of Sainct Antoine drolerie from Christophe Plantin. (M. Ilsink, in Hieronymus Cock; la gravure à la Renaissance, collective work, Bibl. royale de Belgique et Fondation Custodia, 2014, p. 256, our subject reprinted on p. 257).
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Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-c. 1569) (after) The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Multae tribulationes justorum...) 1556. Engraved by Pieter van der Heyden. 325 x 242. Van Bastelaer 119; New Hollstein (Bruegel) 27.10; Orenstein 37. Good proof on thin laid paper, slightly late, a bit gray, with fine perceptible scuffing at the foot of the subject, trimmed on the square line, well complete with the tablet, pasted by the upper corners on laid paper. Tiny snags along top edge, with small, unobtrusive old restorations to verso. A small gap under the word "tribulationes," also filled on the verso. Several fine vertical folds and slight surface ripples in the upper part of the subject. Provenance: Estate of Pierre Hautot " The 1556 Temptation of St. Anthony is the first work to make Bruegel appear as a second Bosch . It is the preparatory drawing preserved in Oxford that indicates the authorship of the engraving, which bears only the address of Cock, the publisher. (...) One of the main sources of inspiration for the man's head surmounted by a fish was undoubtedly The Tree Man. This figure, perhaps the most successful of all the strange creatures invented by Bosch, appears twice in his own works and countless times in those of his followers. In most cases, the imitations are uninspired, but here the result is a striking image that can - almost - rival its model. Such images were considered entertaining, as their description of the time indicates. In 1558, Martin le Jeune, a bookseller in Paris, received twelve copies of Sainct Antoine drolerie from Christophe Plantin. (M. Ilsink, in Hieronymus Cock; la gravure à la Renaissance, collective work, Bibl. royale de Belgique et Fondation Custodia, 2014, p. 256, our subject reprinted on p. 257).
