Jesus Teaches in the Temple (plate 54 of the first edition of "Evangelicae Historiae Imagines, Adnotationes et Meditationes in Evangelia" [Illustrations of the Gospel Stories, Notes and Meditations on the Gospels])

ArtistDrawn by Bernardino Passeri Italian, active at least 1577-1585

ArtistEngraved by Anton Wierix II Flemish, ca.1555/59-1604

Date1593

MediumEngraving on laid paper

DimensionsSheet: 9 3/8 x 6 in. (23.8 x 15.2 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift in memory of Leon H. and Marie Buttlar Sparling by their family

Object number2008.20.13

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Signed"Ber. Pass. Rom. inv" [Bernard Passieri, artist] engraved in the LL corner of the image area, just above "Ant. Wierx. Sculp." [Anton Wierix, engraver]

InscribedEngraved across the top of the sheet, in a bordered tablet, "SABBATHO POST DOMIN. IIII. QUADRAG./Docet I[J]ESUS in templo./I[J]oan viii. Anno xxxii. and in the lower right of this "54" over "lxiiii" [translation Saturday after the fourth Sunday of Lent. Jesus teaches in the temple. John Chapter 8. Year 32 of Christ's life. Plate 54 in the 1593 edition, plate 64 in the 1594-5 edition. Engraved in a tablet across the bottom of the sheet "A. Liberata Adultera, iterum docet/ I[J]esus./ B. Gazophylacium; ibi enim tunc/docebat./C. Dicit se mundi esse lucem./D. Indigne id accipiunt multi, & [here the tablet is split in half with a vertical bar midway across the width. The text continuing at the top of the right side of this bar] cum eo altercantur./C. Respondet illis I[J]esus docet,/& arguit./E. Pater aeternus a quo se miss=um testatur I[J]esus." The letters above correlate to letters engraved by figures in the image in order for the reader to understand who is speaking. "A" is engraved to the left of a small female figure in the left background, the 'Woman taken in adultery' described in John Chapter 8, verse 4. "B" is engraved on the right side column, "C" is engraved just above the feet of Jesus in the center foreground, "D" above the foot of the man Christ is addressing directly in the gathering of 'scribes and pharisees' of John 8. In pencil on the LR inner mat "Anton Wierix/Flemish, 1555-1624, Plate 54 of the Church Year Series". Typed on the old mat cut out and transferred to the new inner mat "orginal copper engraving/ANTON WIERIX - about 1600/ (worked with his two sons in Antwerp)"

MarkingsOn the reverse: "1713" in pencil,center, 2" above bottom, the first number, an inverted V-shaped 1 looks like 18th or early 19th century handwriting,

DescriptionA scene titled "Jesus teaches in the temple" from John Chapter 8, as illustrated in the book of Gospel meditations "Evangelicae Historiae Imagines, adnotantiones et meditationes" (Illustrations of the Gospel Stories, Notes and Meditations on the Gospels) with images commissioned and text prepared by the Spanish Jesuit, Jerome (Hieronymous) Nadal (1507-1580), a primary assistant to St. Ignatius Loyola founder of the Jesuit order. Published by Martin Nutius (or possibly Nuntius), Antwerp,1593-1595.

The image area is between a legend tablet at both the bottom and top (see Inscriptions), each of the three elements are engraved within its own border. The image is framed by arches and other architectural elements of the temple. The central scene is in the right foreground with Christ standing in profile with his right arm and index finger raised while addressing one of the large group of 'pharisees and scribes' who stands opposite him. Above this scene God looks down from a cloud. In the left background is a scene depicting a scene fronm John 8:3-11, the woman taken in adultery ("He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her"). The right background contains a town with orchards in a mountainous landscape.

Some light, apparently random lines in the image area, just above and below Jesus' pointing hand appear to be scratches in the plate. During his inspection of this print on Dec. 17, 2008, Armin Kunz, print appraiser from C.G. Boerner in NYC stated that these lines are just the result of lint or other detritus on the plate when it was printed and are not scratches in the plate itself.
Exhibition History"Old Master Prints from the Sparling Family Collection", Hoopes Gallery, The Hyde Collection, February 28 - May 24, 2009.ProvenanceCa. 1540, Italy, Marco Lazzari (collector's stamp)
Pisa, Italy, F. Marianus Pisanensis
New York, NY, William Randolf Hearst (according to Richard Helbig)
1941, New York, NY, Gimbel Brothers (according to Richard Helbig)
Richard Helbig
2006, Houston, TX, Tobin Sparling
2008, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust