A black and white print portrays a murder with a crowd looking on.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

In the lower left corner of this black and white print, a man wearing a turban strides forward toward a man on the ground, who lays with his weight on his right arm and his face turned upward. The standing man raises his right arm holding a large sword and extends his left hand toward the recumbent man’s face. To the right, behind the two men, is a man looking on with his hands on his chest. He has a large sword sheathed and hanging from his belt. Behind him, in the lower right corner of the scene, two men stand conversing, while another man bends down to pickup a stone on the ground. In the middle of the scene is a man laying on his back on a hillock, his arms and legs splayed. In the background is an urban setting filled with stone buildings and numerous people engaged in conversation with each other. Below the image there is an inscription.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
R5720
People
Johannes Wierix, Netherlandish (Antwerp 1549 - c. 1620 Brussels)
After Gerard van Groeningen, Flemish (active late 16th century)
Title
Mattathias Kills the Jew and the King's Officer
Other Titles
Series/Book Title: History of the Maccabees
Alternate Title: Matthias Killing a Jew and a Royal Servant at Modin
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1574
Culture
Netherlandish
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/250741

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Engraving on off-white antique laid paper
Technique
Engraving
Dimensions
image: 18.8 × 28.5 cm (7 3/8 × 11 1/4 in.)
plate: 20.3 × 28.5 cm (8 × 11 1/4 in.)
sheet: 21 × 29.2 cm (8 1/4 × 11 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: signed in plate, lower center: "IHW"
  • inscription: engraved in lower plate margin: Mathathias sacerdos.. se abdiderunt, Machab: 1 , Cap: 2 . / 2,
  • collector's mark: verso, purple stamp with accession number written within in brown ink:


















    JOHN WITT RANDALL COLL. / HARVARD COLLEGE / no. 5720. [number on a
    dotted line] [Lugt 2130]





Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
John Witt Randall, bequest to his sister.
Belinda Lull Randall, sister of John Witt Randall, gift to Harvard University, 1892.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State
ii/iii
Standard Reference Number
New Hollstein 63, Mauquoy-Hendrickx 47; Alvin 126; New Hollstein 63

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Belinda L. Randall from the collection of John Witt Randall
Object Number
R5720
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Susanne J. Warma, "Mattathias Slaying the Apostate: An Uncommon Subject from the First Book of Maccabees", Gazette des Beaux-Arts (September 1994), pp. 13-22, p. 18, repr. p. 19, fig. 6.

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu