1608 Crucifixion, Apostle Philipp, Adriaen Collaert, master engraving, religious

Issued in the rare series:

Trivmphvs Iesv Christi crvcifixi

Published in Anvers by Moretus, 1608.

First State.

18 x 12.2 cm

Adriaen Collaert (c. 1560 – 29 June 1618) was a Flemish designer and engraver. 

Around 1560, Adriaen Collaert was born into a family of reproductive engravers in Antwerp, Belgium. Likely trained by his father, Hans Collaert I (Flemish, c. 1530-1581), a prominent draftsman and engraver, Adriaen, focused his work on print publishing, book illustrating, and reproductive engraving. Throughout the 1580s, he worked for several print publishers, including Philips Galle (Flemish, 1537-1612) whose daughter, Jozijne, Adriaen married in 1586. By the end of the 1580s, Collaert began working on book illustrations, and he established a successful workshop in the early 1590s. His activity in publishing and book illustration grew throughout his career, and by the 1600s, he was receiving  many commissions from leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, who supported the Counter-Reformation, also known as the Catholic Revival.

The engraving on offer depicts the martyrdom of the Apostle Philipp. Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia. Included in the Acts of Philip is an appendix, entitled "Of the Journey of Philip the Apostle: From the Fifteenth Act Until the End, and Among Them the Martyrdom." This appendix gives an embellished account of Philip's martyrdom in the city of Hierapolis. According to this account, through a miraculous healing and his preaching Philip converted the wife of the proconsul of the city. This enraged the proconsul, and he had Philip, Bartholomew, and Mariamne all tortured. Philip and Bartholomew were then crucified upside-down, and Philip preached from his cross. As a result of Philip's preaching the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross, but Philip insisted that they not release him, and Philip died on the cross. Philip is also said to have been martyred by beheading, rather than crucifixion, in the city of Hierapolis.