Hieronymus Cock

This very rare print dates from Hieronymus Cock’s early period as a printmaker and publisher. Although the etching was long considered to be based on an invention by Cock, whose name appears in the lower left of the image, the composition is connected to an early drawing by Pieter Bruegel from 1554, which is now in Prague (Národní Galerie). Cock was not, however, faithful to Bruegel’s original; he changed the composition by replacing a group of romping bears in the left foreground by a depiction of the Temptation of Christ. This intervention, no doubt primarily designed to enhance the print’s commercial success, makes it clear that Cock played a dominant role in the relationship between the two artists at the time and that he was free to adapt the originals of the younger Bruegel as he saw fit. Very characteristic of Cock’s publishing practices, too, is his addition in the lower margin of the print of an uplifting motto from the Gospel of Saint Matthew: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The present etching is the earliest example of this habit of combining Bruegel’s themes with moralizing Latin verses, which made a major contribution to the enormous success of the Aux Quatre Vents publishing house.

A light, dynamic etching technique is used to depict the landscape, which displays – especially in the middle and background – a series of attractive, typically Bruegelesque details. The gnarled tree trunks with their bizarrely twisted branches and opulent foliage are rendered very vividly and convey an impression of the surging force of nature. Compared with this powerful evocation, Cock’s intervention seems somewhat art­i­ficial. Jesus and the odd figure of the devil disguised as a hermit have been banished to the lower left-hand corner of the image and make a curiously forlorn impression against the imposing sylvan background.

A very fine impression printed with subtle tone; with even margins around the distinct platemark. Minor ageing and defects, otherwise in  very fine condition.