1608 Torture, crucifixion, St. Alexander, Adriaen Collaert, master engraving, religious art

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 Saint Alexander, a companion of Saint Pothinus. Alexander was a physician in Vienne, Gaul, when he converted to Christianity. He was arrested during the persecutions conducted under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Along with Pothinus and forty-six other Christians, Alexander was tortured and executed. As part of this group, Alexander is one of the Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne.