Johannes Wierix

The sacrifices of Cain and Abel

Auction Closed

January 31, 05:59 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 7,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Johannes Wierix

Antwerp 1549 - circa 1620 Brussels

The sacrifices of Cain and Abel

Pen and brown ink on vellum;

signed in brown ink, lower center: Iohan Wiricx inue

91 by 120 mm; 3 ⅝ by 4 ¾ in.

Dr. Einar Perman (1893-1976), Stockholm,
by descent to the present owners

Laren, Singer Museum, Oude Tekeningen uit de Nederlanden. Verzameling Prof. E. Perman, Stockholm, 1962, cat. 146

Though Johannes (or Jan) Wierix came from an illustrious Antwerp printmaking family, and was himself active in that medium, it is as a draughtsman rather than an engraver that his artistic achievements are the most notable.¹ Wierix has left a corpus of some 250 fine drawings, in a number of cases repeating the same subjects, all executed in a very minute, engraving-like style, in the rather fugitive technique of brown ink on vellum.

The subject is the biblical moment when Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve, make sacrifices to God, who favors those of Abel, causing Cain to kill Abel in a fit of jealous rage. The mortal struggle between the brothers - the most frequently depicted moment in this story - is here seen only in the far distance.

1. Z. van Ruyven-Zeman, "'Stuckxken met de penne': Drawings by the Engraver Johannes Wierix", Master Drawings, vol. XLII, n^o 3, 2004, pp. 237-257