Acts of the Apostles
Date1643 or 1646
PeriodDutch Golden Age
Place MadeAmsterdam, Netherlands, Europe
MediumEngraving
Credit LineGift of Drs. John and Bessie Sawhill
Object number76.1.961
On View
Not on viewInscribed'Iohan Stradanus inven. JC Visscher excudit'
'Ipse Sacerdotum Princeps post paucula verba
Quad vix fatus erat Pauli, Iubet ora loquentis
Constricto pugno cedi Tribunus at ipse
Imperat ut Paulum deducant tramite tuto.'
'Acto. Cap. 23. 1'
Markings32 in bottom right corner of text
Label TextSt. Paul before the high priest (76.1.961) and St. Stephen before the high priest and the council (76.1.960) appeared in Den Grooten Figuer-Bibel, a large illustrated Bible, published by Claes Janz Visscher II and Jan Philipsz Schabaelje in Amsterdam in 1643. Visscher and Schabaelje’s prints were based on nearly identical ones made 70 years prior by Dutch engraver Philips Galle for his series, Acta Apostolorum,which he first published in Antwerp in 1575. Galle worked with multiple artists to complete the series, including Maarten van Heemskerck (1498 - 1574) and Iohan Stradanus (1523 - 1605), who painted the original designs of these scenes. Galle made copper engravings after these paintings and added the Latin inscriptions in the second edition of the book. Visscher and Schabaelje used a portion of the designs from Galle’s Acta Apostolorum for their illustrated version of the New Testament book of Acts. In Galle’s original publication, these scenes of the apostles would have created a subtle rhetoric, connecting the original, apostolic church with the contemporary Catholic church in Antwerp. However, as the subject matter is not overtly Catholic, Visscher and Schabaelje were able to make small changes to the designs and adapt them to the Protestantism of Amsterdam.