Jehu and the Heads of Ahab's Sons and Baal's Prophets Slain, Mortier, circa 1700

This original copperplate engraving from Pieter Mortier's illustrated Bible, Amsterdam circa 1700, shows two biblical scenes on one sheet: 2 Kings 10:7, the heads of Ahab's seventy sons brought to Jehu, and 2 Kings 10:25, Jehu has the prophets of Baal killed. The upper scene illustrates 2 Kings chapter 10, verse 7, where the elders of Samaria send Jehu the heads of the seventy sons of Ahab in baskets. Jehu, armoured and helmeted, stands at the city gate among his officers while the heads are piled on the ground before him, a stark episode in the fall of the house of Ahab.

The lower scene shows 2 Kings chapter 10, verse 25, Jehu's slaughter of the worshippers and prophets of Baal in the temple of Baal, whom he had gathered there by a ruse. Soldiers with raised swords fall upon the priests around a burning altar in a great colonnaded temple. Each scene carries its own engraved caption with the scripture reference in Dutch and French, and the sheet is numbered 109 in the lower margin.

Mortier's illustrated Bible stands among the landmarks of Dutch Baroque book illustration. The Amsterdam publisher brought together a team of designers and engravers, with contributing artists including Gerard Hoet, Arnold Houbraken and Bernard Picart, to produce a continuous pictorial narrative of scripture, each copper plate carrying two scenes framed like paintings hung on a wall. This sheet is signed in the lower margin by Ottmar Elliger as designer, with the engraving signed by probably Andreas Reinhard. The sheet is printed on laid paper with full margins, and the reverse is blank.

For display, the tall double composition works well in a hallway or beside a bookcase, and a pair or group of Mortier sheets makes a coherent wall of Baroque religious art. Collectors of engravings illustrating the Books of Kings will find it a well documented and attractive example.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning, a few small spots and a soft crease at the lower left corner, and slightly frayed edges; the image itself 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.