Cornelis Danckerts - Matthäus Merian (XVII) - Colección completa de 96 grabados bíblicos (1660)

Series of Biblical Histories from the Old and New Testament (recorded circa 1630–1640). Published by Frederik de Wit (1629/1630 – 1706), renowned Amsterdam printer, cartographer and publisher of prints (publication dated 1660).

This complete series represents one of the most ambitious biblical outreach productions of seventeenth‑century Amsterdam. Through the ingenious division of large copper plates into narrative grids, Danckerts and Frederik de Wit succeeded in condensing the monumental iconography of Matthäus Merian into a format that was accessible and commercially successful for the Bible and family-illustration market of the Dutch Golden Age. Preserving the entire series of the 6 plates (96 scenes) is of particular significance for the collecting of historical prints, since the vast majority of these copies were dispersed or rebound individually over the centuries.

Cornelis Danckerts I (Dutch engraver, c. 1603 – 1656), engraving according to the compositions and invention of Matthäus Merian the Elder (Swiss‑German engraver and draftsman, 1593 – 1650).

Copper-engraved intaglio print (mezzotint/engraving and etching on a copper matrix).

Biblical series distributed as a set of 6 double sheets, each composed (in each sheet) as a matrix subdivided into a grid of 16 comparted scenes, totaling 96 narrative scenes (64 Old Testament and 32 New Testament). Commercial edition published in the Dutch Golden Age, without a manually numbered limited edition, as was customary in printmaking of the period.

Titles, descriptive captions and biblical inscriptions engraved by burin in Dutch on the copper matrix within the upper and lower margins of each scene (for example, “de Coning Achab inden stryt gewont. 1 Regum. 22*, *Daniel inden Kuyl der Leeuwen. Danelis. 6”).

Unwashed parchment-like paper of the period (17th century) handmade from linen and cotton rags, with papermaking marks, cords and watermark visible when held to the light.