Dirck Jacobsz. VELLERT: The Temptation of Christ - 1525
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Engraving, 113 x 76 mm. Hollstein 5, 2nd state (of 2), Bartsch (Thiery van Star) 5.
Impression of the 2nd state (of 2) with the additional lines on the devil’s leg. Impressions of the first state are very rare.
Fine impression printed on laid paper, trimmed on the borderline. A horizontal fold visible only on the back of the sheet. Generally in good condition.
Adam Bartsch writes: "Dirk (Thiery) van Star, i.e. Etoile, is the name of a very skilful engraver of whom we have no other record, except that he was Dutch, and that he lived between the years 1522 and 1544." (Le Peintre graveur, volume 8, p. 26, translated by us). The monogram has been interpreted by Gustave Glück as that of Dirk Vellert, a Flemish painter and stained-glass artist. Almost all of Vellert's nineteen intaglio prints date from the first half of the 1520s, and the artist often even engraved the month and day. The Temptation of Christ is dated April 2, 1525.
Impressions of prints by Dirk Vellert are very rare.
The influence of Lucas van Leyden and Albrecht Dürer can be seen in the composition of The Temptation of Christ. Arthur Popham has compared the figure of the devil to the one engraved by Lucas van Leyden in 1518 (Bartsch 41).
Vellert's technique differs, however. Nadine Orenstein underlines in particular “the artist’s ability to manipulate the burin in a way that suggests a draftsman-like expressiveness.” (N. Orenstein, F. Spira, P. Fuhring & C. Jenkins: The Renaissance of etching, 2019, p. 68).