Tempesta, Antonio (Florence 1555 – Rome 1630). Hunting the Wolf, here next to a flock of sheep before a building by use of sword and pikes, the pursuit by horse, and the driving into nets. In the large group in front the attacked wolf charges the horse. Quite in the back a village with steeple. Etching by Egbert Jansz (end of 16^th century)? 10.8 x 14 cm.

From the collection EK (not in Lugt) with its round stamp on the back, nearly identical with the mark CK (L. 583) of the Carl König Collection, Vienna, known for paintings, drawings, and objects d’art. – No. 9 of the 18-sheet collection with repeated numbers by a contemporary, presumably Netherlandish copyist available here with provenance EK on uniformly fine, wide-margined laid paper, partly with watermark Amsterdam coat-of-arms flanked on one side by lion. Below overwhelmingly with wide white platemark with just the number at the right, what points to

early  impressions  before  the  letter .

The more so as in the few cases of only narrow margin the number appears directly in the image itself.

Highly  instructive  and  dynamic  sheet

worked after one of the numerous Tempesta sets, e. g. the equal-sized Primo libro di Caccie varie (“This set was nicely copied, too”, Nagler), the collector’s reference to the first/second of the totally four Christoffel van Sichems (ca. 1546-1624 and ca. 1581 – before 1658 resp.) under providential inclusion of the contemporary Karel, too, seems not plausible based on the knowledge of their work here. More interesting in this regard should be Egbert Jansz, little known in his living conditions, of whom de Brys in Frankfort/Main published a collection “Icones Venantum Species Varias … per Antonium Tempestinum” in 1598 which Schwerdt I, 266 lists with 11 sheets, Thieme-Becker with 12 and Wurzbach with only 6 sheets. Not impossible that there are even more. These with 12 x 17 cm somewhat larger, however, and without numbering. Otherwise Schwerdt: Egbert Jansz was perhaps the best of those engravers who reproduced these and similar hunting scenes by Tempesta.
Offer no. 28,559 / EUR  125. (c. US$ 183.) + shipping

„ Vielen Dank, und sollten Sie wieder einmal einen ‚(William) Blake‘ in Ihrem Sortiment haben, waere ich fuer eine kurze e-mail dankbar “

(Mr. U. S., 23. Januar 2002)