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Lot Essay
One of the masterpieces of French mannerist printmaking, Jacques Bellange's Holy Women at the Sepulchre follows quite accurately the narrative of Mark 16.1-6:
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
The third woman named by the Apostle Mark, Salome, is not to be confused with the daughter of Herodias. She was a follower of Christ and also known as Mary Salome, hence the habitual French title of this subject: Les trois Maries au tombeau. Bellange depicts the the three women twice, once in the left background as they find the entrance of the cave open, and then standing in front of the empty tomb, as they encounter the angel announcing that Jesus has risen.
It is a daring composition, with the three Marys depicted prominently in the foreground, but seen from behind or in a lost profile. The viewer is thereby placed in the same position as the women, with the gaze directed towards the Angel of the Resurrection. It is the most monumental of Bellange's great, large-scale etchings such as The Raising of Lazarus or the Martyrdom of Saint Lucy, which can feel somewhat overcrowded and cluttered. Here, everything is pared down to the core of the narrative, albeit still depicted in Bellange's unique and highly eccentric style of elongated figures, opulent costumes and extravagant coiffures.
Little is known about the life of Jacques Bellange, who was employed as a court painter by the Duke of Lorraine in Nancy. His printed oeuvre is slim, consisting of only 47 plates in total, all of which are rare, especially in fine, early impressions, such as the present one.
Nicole Walch recorded only six impressions in public collections. Griffiths and Hartley erroneously record two impressions of the first state (before the signature), in Boston and Amsterdam, but the sheet at the Rijksmuseum is in fact also a second state-impression, with the signature.
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
The third woman named by the Apostle Mark, Salome, is not to be confused with the daughter of Herodias. She was a follower of Christ and also known as Mary Salome, hence the habitual French title of this subject: Les trois Maries au tombeau. Bellange depicts the the three women twice, once in the left background as they find the entrance of the cave open, and then standing in front of the empty tomb, as they encounter the angel announcing that Jesus has risen.
It is a daring composition, with the three Marys depicted prominently in the foreground, but seen from behind or in a lost profile. The viewer is thereby placed in the same position as the women, with the gaze directed towards the Angel of the Resurrection. It is the most monumental of Bellange's great, large-scale etchings such as The Raising of Lazarus or the Martyrdom of Saint Lucy, which can feel somewhat overcrowded and cluttered. Here, everything is pared down to the core of the narrative, albeit still depicted in Bellange's unique and highly eccentric style of elongated figures, opulent costumes and extravagant coiffures.
Little is known about the life of Jacques Bellange, who was employed as a court painter by the Duke of Lorraine in Nancy. His printed oeuvre is slim, consisting of only 47 plates in total, all of which are rare, especially in fine, early impressions, such as the present one.
Nicole Walch recorded only six impressions in public collections. Griffiths and Hartley erroneously record two impressions of the first state (before the signature), in Boston and Amsterdam, but the sheet at the Rijksmuseum is in fact also a second state-impression, with the signature.