Lot 1*
After Pieter Bruegel the Elder(1525-1569) by Pieter van der Heyden (1530-1572)The Last Judgement
23 June 2021, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £8,925 inc. premium
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After Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569) by Pieter van der Heyden (1530-1572)
The Last Judgement (Basteler 121; New Hollstein 8)
Engraving, 1558, on laid paper, a fine impression of the first state (of two), before the address of Mariette, published by Hieronymus Cock, trimmed to or on the platemark left and below, with thread margins elsewhere, with pale time staining, minor repairs, other surface defects
Plate 210 x 290mm. (8 1/4 x 11 3/8in.)
Engraving, 1558, on laid paper, a fine impression of the first state (of two), before the address of Mariette, published by Hieronymus Cock, trimmed to or on the platemark left and below, with thread margins elsewhere, with pale time staining, minor repairs, other surface defects
Plate 210 x 290mm. (8 1/4 x 11 3/8in.)
Footnotes
Provenance
P. de Ramaix (Lugt 4099).
In the mid-sixteenth century, Pieter Bruegel the Elder produced a series of drawings of the Seven Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins, with The Last Judgement designed as a transition between the two, all of which were engraved by his contemporary Pieter van der Heyden.
This had been a popular subject since the Middle Ages, with an established pictorial tradition taken from biblical descriptions of Christ enthroned on the Earth with a rainbow, angels calling the souls to judgement, saints and sinners separated and told their fate. Bruegel is highly inventive with his imagery, using fantastical creatures, showing the influence of Hieronymus Bosch, to capture the attention of his audience and convey their ultimate choice of damnation or salvation. The image would certainly have provoked much debate in the discordant atmosphere between Catholics and Protestants at the time, with the Catholics fearful of Judgement Day, whilst the Calvinists believed in predestination.
The inscription below was probably added by van der Heyden and reads, "Come here, you are blessed by my father, into the eternal kingdom; you the cursed, go into the everlasting fire"
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