The Last Judgment
Hieronymus Bosch (The Netherlands 1450-1516). After. “The Last Judgment”. Signed HIERONYMVS BOS INVENTOR in the plate. Engraving on laid paper, with a small coat-of-arms with a flower watermark, S. 34.9×50.6 cm.
Hollstein 7, from the first state, of two, with the address of the publisher Cock, an early impression in this state with the guidelines for the text in the lower margin distinct. Circa 1550-1570.
According to the Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, where there is another impression of this engraving, “This densely populated triptych represents the popular apocalyptic theme of the fate of human souls at the moment of the Last Judgment. Angels battle demons in the central scene, while the side panels represent heaven and hell: on the left, blessed souls frolic in an idyllic setting, presided over by Christ; on the right, the damned are tortured in a rocky landscape. Much of the imagery is reminiscent of the work of Hieronymus Bosch. This large engraving, printed in Antwerp by the publisher Hieronymus Cock, is a pastiche of motifs deriving from altarpieces by Bosch and his followers. The illusionistic frame implies that the print is a reproduction of an actual altarpiece.”
PROVENANCE
The collection of Engineer and Major Frank Bensow (1883-1969), with the ink stamp verso (Lugt 982c).