Zacharias Dolendo

The large-sized engraving entitled The Crucifixion ranks among the most ambitious works in Zacharias Dolendo’s printed oeuvre. It is based on a lost oil painting made by his master, Jacques de Gheyn the Younger. A contemporary painted copy based on Dolendo’s engraving, a brightly coloured little mannerist panel of almost identical size, is preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (inv. no. 979). The print, which is rare, was issued by de Gheyn’s own publishing house. Dolendo’s engraving brilliantly reproduces the elaborately arranged scene with its multitude of figures. His highly concentrated, varied and detailed engraving technique creates an overall graphic image of exceptional vividness and dynamism. Dolendo pays meticulous attention to the varying gestures, emotions and facial expressions of the numerous protagonists. A wide range of richly varied movement motifs invests the dramatic scene with a remarkable vitality and religious pathos.

This very rare print is on offer here in an early impression before the reworking of the plate and before the address of the publisher Tangena. The New Hollstein records a mere seven impressions of the first state – in Amsterdam, Brussels, Coburg, Copenhagen, Paris, Vienna and Wolfegg. A fine, rich and harmonious impression with thread margins around the platemark on the left and right, to which it is trimmed at the top and bottom. Minor ageing, otherwise in excellent, well-preserved condition.
 

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