Artists: Virgil Solis, Monogrammist MI, Jost Amman. With an output of over 2,000 prints and drawings, Virgil Solis was one of Nuremberg's most prolific printmakers and book illustrators. Jost Amman took the place of Virgil Solis in Nuremberg.
Title: [recto] The Judgement of Solomon (1 King 3:16), Five Amorite Kings Killed (Joshua 10:10-16), Jehu Executes Jezebel (2 Kings 9:30), Samuel put Agag to death (1 Sam. 15:33); [verso] Achan’s Sin (Joshua 7:20), Water From the Rock (Exod. 17:6), "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink" (Judges 7:5), Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines (Judges 15:15). Eight illustrations to an unidentified edition of Luther's Biblia. Wooden blocks passed from one publisher to another and were widely used in different books XVI-XVII centuries, i.e. Biblia sacra, Graece, Latine & Germanic opera Davidis Wolderi. 1596 or Newe biblische Figuren künstlich und artig gerissen ... mit schönen teutschen Reimen, welche den Innhalt einer jeden Figur kurz begreiffen ... gestellt durch Heinrich Peter Rebenstock By Jost Amman, Heinrich Peter Rebenstock 1579 (in woodcut borders).
Dimensions: Images 2 3/8" x 3 1/4". Sheet 6 1/2" x 8 1/8".
Edition: the unidentified edition of the religious literature of the 16th-17th centuries.
Materials and Techniques: woodcut on paper, letterpress verso. Eight woodcuts are pasted onto two sides of the supporting sheet: four on each side. Originally were printed in woodcutting decorative frames, but later cut off.
Provenance: The Estate of George "Yorgo" Demetrakopoulos; professor, assistant director of the Medieval Institute, and assistant to the dean at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, from 1965-2000.
Condition: worn paper, heavily used woodblock, trimmed printed frames, traces of glue throughout, dents, tears. The signs of aging are appropriate for the time. A detailed condition report is available on demand.
Part of: collector's album of German woodcuts XVI C. Pages with six and eight prints each uniformly designed with Nos 148/1, 148/3-148/4 in our collection.
Art Movements, Periods & Schools: German School XVI C.
Note: This entry incorporates text from Wikipedia and Nagler's "Die
Monogrammisten".