Ignis

Acquired From: Leen Helmink

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Good

Confirmed: 3/10/2022

Date Acquired: 18/2/2021

Description: Since antiquity, European doctrine held that all matter was composed of four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. Artists frequently depicted these elements allegorically, personifying them through figures typically accompanied by symbolic attributes and sometimes narrative scenes.nAdriaen Collaerts engravings depict semi-naked personifications of the elements, each adorned with relevant symbols and positioned within landscapes that enhance their thematic meaning. Each figure is framed within an oval, surrounded by putti in the spandrels that echo the central image. These compositions are paired with inscriptions by Cornelis Kiliaan, a corrector at Christopher Plantins esteemed publishing house in Antwerp and a noted lexicographer.nIn the background of each engraving, a corresponding biblical narrative adds further depth. The series maintains a balanced structure: two male and two female figures, with one from each gender associated with an Old Testament story and the other with a New Testament account, illustrating a symmetrical integration of these universal systems.nThis engraving representing Fire shows the figure with a halo of flames encircling his head. In his right hand, he holds thunderbolts and flames, traditional symbols of the Roman god Jupiter (Jove), whom Kiliaan describes in his inscription as wielding flames to destroy but also heat to nurture. The figures left foot rests on a large salamander in a bed of fire, a reference to ancient and medieval beliefs that salamanders could survive within flames. Saint Augustine, in The City of God, cited this lore to argue that souls could endure eternal punishment in the fires of hella notion reflected in the volcanic landscape on the left side of the composition.nTo the right, in the middle ground, the engraving illustrates the Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah (or Elias) and the priests of Baal. During a famine in Samaria, Elijah challenged 450 pagan priests to summon their god to ignite an offering of a bullock placed on wood. When their prayers failed, Elijah saturated his altar with water, filling trenches around it, and called upon the God of Israel. Scripture recounts: Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench (3 Kings 18:38). This divine demonstration prompted Elijah to order the priests of Baal to be slain, and soon afterward, rain ended the drought. Collaerts engraving captures the moment when fire descends from heaven onto the altar, with Elijah kneeling in prayer.nKiliaans Latin inscription reflects both the nurturing and destructive nature of airnIGNIS, seu flammans, caelo qui proximus, Aether; / Materia altisono fulminis unde Iovi: / Flammarum immodicus vi multa uritq[ue] necatque; / Ast modicus grato multa calore fovet.n(Fire, or the blazing Ether, near to heaven; whence [comes] to sublime Jove the substance of flame: beyond measure, by the power of flames, he burns and destroys many things; but with proper measure, he fosters many things with pleasing heat.)

Engraver: Collaert, Adriaen (1560-1618)

First published: Separate Publication

Image Size (cm): 21.4×17

Mapmaker: Collaert, Adriaen (1560-1618)

Price: 650

Primary Category: Prints & Related Material

Purchase Reference: Ledger 2022

References: The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (Collaert Dynasty, Ann Diels and Marjolein Leesberg, authors). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-, : no. 1285, State i/ii, no. 1284, State i/iii

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: after 1587

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