The Fall of the Magician

1565

Pieter van der Heyden, after Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Associated Names
Pieter van der Heyden

Artist, Netherlandish, active c. 1551/1572

Hieronymus Cock

Publisher, Netherlandish, 1518 - 1570

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Artist After, Netherlandish, c. 1525/1530 - 1569

This print is filled with fantastical creatures and distorted human figures that seem to tumble down into the scene from above. Some of these creatures have recognizable elements like faces, animal features, or clothing items, while others are contorted and unrecognizable. They seem to be causing chaos, some brandishing weapons or instruments, some doing somersaults or walking on their hands. On the right, several people stand together under an arched wall, looking in on the scene. At the front is a person with a halo, holding a long staff and lifting one hand up. On the left, a person sits among the creatures, a table in front of them with small balls and cups stacked on it. In the bottom left corner, the body of a person lays on a table. At the end of the table is a long sword and a decapitated head on a plate. There is a line of text at the bottom of the print.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Hope and Julian Edison

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to image): 21.5 × 28.7 cm (8 7/16 × 11 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2019.114.3

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 12, State i/v

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Hope and Julian Edison [1929-2017], St. Louis; gift to the NGA, 2019.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (Pieter Bruegel, Nadine Orenstein author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, no. 12, state i/v.

Inscriptions

lower right, in image, in plate: Bruegel.invent; lower left, on table, in plate: .PAME. [artist's monogram]; in lower margin, in plate: IDEM IMPETRAVIT A DEO VT MAGVS A DEMONIBVS DISCERPERETVR. (Hence [the saint] obtained from God that the magician should be torn to pieces by demons.) [translation from Nadine Orenstein, ed., Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001, p. 232.]; on verso, in graphite at lower left: La Chute du Magicien / Bast. 118; on verso, in graphite at lower center: OTTMBBIAB10; on verso, in graphite at lower right: Kdd

Markings

none

Watermarks

dolphin with a flower (similar to Briquet 5845)

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