Angolo, Giovanni Battista d' - zugeschrieben Lot n° 5011

attributed to. Landscape with Moses and the tablets of the law. Etching. 19,2 x 28,6 cm. Hollstein 10, Riggs 97. The witty and atmospherically treated landscape depiction is an art historical curiosity. Timothy Allan Riggs erroneously assigned the etching to the series of "Landscapes with Biblical and Mythological Scenes" created by Hieronymus Cock in 1558 from designs by his older brother Matthijs, and Hollstein also listed the sheet as part of this cycle. Both authors describe a total of fourteen sheets, but today research assumes that the set comprised only twelve etchings, relying on the 1601 inventory list of Volcxken Diericx, Cock's widow, which states, "Twaalf coperen plaeten van Lantschappen van Jheronimus Cock" (see J. van Grieken/ G. Luijten/ J. van der Stock, Hieronymus Cock. De renaissance in prent, exh. Cat., Brussels-Leuven-Paris 2013, pp. 344-347, no. 94). In reality, the present rare sheet is a free repetition in the opposite sense of Hieronymus Cock's etching "Landscape with the Sacrifice of Abraham" from 1551 (Riggs 37; Hollstein 1). The anonymous, probably upper Italian artist replaced the sacrificial scene by the figure of Moses with the tablets of the law and allowed himself further artistic liberties. For example, God the Father up in heaven takes the place of the saving angel. Compared to Cock's original version, the etching is freer and more spontaneous in its style. The loose, painterly strokes are reminiscent of the etchings of Giovanni Battista d'Angolo, whose artistic idiom sometimes displays eclectic, Nordic-influenced stylistic features. - Excellent impression with fine margins around the platemark, which is burr-printed in places, trimmed down to this at the bottom. Minor foxing, one unobtrusive smoothed hanging crease, minor traces of use, otherwise in good condition.