Heliodorus Scourged and Armies in the Sky over Jerusalem, Mortier, circa 1700

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 2 Maccabees 3:25, Heliodorus beaten with rods, and 2 Maccabees 5:2, armies seen in the air above Jerusalem. The upper scene illustrates 2 Maccabees chapter 3, where Heliodorus, sent to plunder the Temple treasury, is struck down by a heavenly horseman in golden armour and scourged by two young men. The rider rears over the fallen Heliodorus as the youths lay on with their rods, a subject made famous by Raphael in the Vatican.

The lower scene shows 2 Maccabees chapter 5, verse 2, the portent of armies of horsemen seen fighting in the air above Jerusalem for forty days. Frightened onlookers gather in the foreground while ghostly troops cross the sky over the landscape. Each scene carries its own engraved caption with the scripture reference in Dutch and French, and the sheet is numbered 139 in the lower margin.

Pieter Mortier, the Amsterdam publisher and bookseller, issued his illustrated Bible circa 1700 as a showpiece of Dutch Baroque printmaking. Its contributing artists included Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart, and the plates present the biblical narrative as a sequence of theatrical scenes, crowded with figures and set among classical architecture and wide landscapes. This sheet is signed in the lower margin by Bernard Picart as designer, with the engraving signed by M. Pool. The sheet is printed on laid paper with full margins, and the reverse is blank.

The sheet would suit a library, a study or a quiet corner of a living room, where its fine line work rewards close viewing. Hung in a group with other Mortier plates, it becomes part of a continuous illustrated narrative of the Maccabees.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few spots and minor creasing and chipping at the upper right corner and right edge; the image is clean.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.