[Passion of Christ Series] by Muller, Jan Harmensz [engraved after Lucas Van Leyden] - 1670

[Amsterdam]: C. de Jonghe, 1670. Thirteen (of fourteen) loose. copper plate engravings (4 1/8 x 3 5/8"; 118 x 80 mm or slightly larger). Condition details below. A suite of the later impressions of this sequence of copperplate engravings by Jan Harmansz Muller, based on Lucas Van Leyden's original series published in 1521. Such series of engraved or woodcut cards were quite popular during the late and post- Medieval eras, and the Passion of Christ, rendered in a form closely approximating the fourteen Stations of the Cross in the Catholic Church, was a common subject. Muller's work so closely mimics Leyden's that the original date '1521' and the large monogram 'L' remain in each of the engravings. The origin of this suite is indicated by the presence in the lower portion of the first engraving (only), of Muller's name along with C. de Jonghe's imprint. Clement de Jonghe (fl. 1634/5 - 77) was a successful Amsterdam print seller, publisher and dealer, best remembered for his having salvaged the original plates of Rembrandt's etchings, from which he produced restrike editions. Jan Muller (1571-1628) was a gifted engraver who apprenticed under master printer Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617). His own work was not limited to skillful reinterpretations of the work of his predecessors, but his attraction to the work of Leyden extended as well to a version of Leyden's engraved portrait of Emperor Maximilian I (after the woodcut by Durer). Of course, impressions of this series were published during his lifetime, and the later editions such as this, with de Jonghe's imprint, evidence the further utilization of the plates. This set lacks the final plate, the 14th in the series, which depicts the Resurrection. The first plate, which depicts the Last Supper and bears the imprint, exhibits a 4mm tear in the top edge, and two small smudges, along with a small early ink annotation on the verso. The 2nd plate bears an old colored pencil name on the verso and has a narrow discoloration in the left margin which penetrates only slightly into the plate area. The 7th and 9th plates exhibit significant old tidemarks on the versos, with the 7th mirroring the discoloration on the recto. All exhibit a small patch of thinning at the top edge on the verso from having been mounted at some point. Otherwise, the remaining plates are in very good condition.