Gad

c. 1585; published 1643

Jan Sadeler I after Crispen van den Broecke

Associated Names
Jan Sadeler I

Artist, Netherlandish, 1550 - 1600

Claes Jansz Visscher

Publisher, Dutch, 1586/1587 - 1652

Crispin van den Broeck

Artist After, Netherlandish, 1523 - c. 1591

The image shows a man standing confidently, with a robust build, muscles, and a full beard. He wears an ornate helmet with a large, colorful plume and a short blue skirt-like garment. A red cape drapes over his shoulders, leaving his upper body exposed. He holds a sword, pointing downwards, with armor pieces on the ground nearby. The background shows a landscape with a winding river, greenery, and a distant castle, under a lightly cloudy sky.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    hand-colored engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall (cut within platemark): 22.2 x 15 cm (8 3/4 x 5 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2005.128.7.a

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hollstein, no. 69, State ii/ii

Associated Artworks

See all 5 artworks

The Twelve Sons of Jacob

Jan Sadeler I, Claes Jansz Visscher

1580

The image depicts a figure, Ruben, standing upright. He is resting one hand on a cow and holding a jug in the other hand. The figure has an old facial expression, with a long gray beard and mustache, and is wearing a blue turban. He wears a colorful robe and a sash, standing on grass next to a cow and a goat. In the background, there is a landscape with a small house, hills, trees, buildings, and a sky with clouds.

Ruben

Jan Sadeler I, Claes Jansz Visscher

1585

The image shows a man with his back to the viewer, standing with one arm outstretched to his side. The man has a muscular build and a beard. He wears an ornate gold helmet with blue and green detailing, a green tunic with patterns, a red draped garment, and blue greaves. He is barefoot and holds a flag pole with a blue banner. In the background, there is a battle scene with soldiers and a fortified structure. The ground is grassy and there is text at the bottom of the image.

Levi

Jan Sadeler I, Claes Jansz Visscher

1585

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Kunsthandlung Helmut H. Rumbler, Frankfurt am Main); purchased 2005 by NGA.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. 72 vols. Amsterdam, 1980: XXI (Johannes Sadeler I), no. 69, ii/ii.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (Crispijn van den Broeck, Ursula Mielke, author). Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel: Sound & Vision Publishers, 2011: Part I, no. 57, ii/ii.

Inscriptions

upper center: GAD; lower right in plate: .8.; in margin below image, in plate: Gad animo magnus belli virtute probatus / Victoris laudes abstulit ense suo / Ex me prognatus vates praeclarus Elias / Quem currus vivum igneus eripuit. (Gad, great in spirit, tried in valor, has with his sword borne off the victor's praise. From me sprang Elijah, the prophet of great renown, who was carried off alive by a fiery chariot. [translation from Veldman, Ilja M., and H. J. de Jonge, "The sons of Jacob: the twelve patriarchs in sixteenth-century Netherlandish prints and popular literature," Simiolus, vol. 15 (1985), no. 3, p. 196.])

Wikidata ID

Q76343307

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