Inscius non honorabitur (or Wisdom Conquering Ignorance or The Triumph of Wisdom)

Reference: S40800
Author Aegidius SADELER II
Year: 1600 ca.
Measures: 351 x 491 mm
Not Available

Reference: S40800
Author Aegidius SADELER II
Year: 1600 ca.
Measures: 351 x 491 mm
Not Available

Description

Engraving, 1600 circa, inscribed "B. Spranger invent. Fig. Sadeler sculp." in the plate, bottom centre.  In margin below, four Latin lines in two columns “Non datur; eximas veneret, ut inscius artes, solus eas quaerens noscere, gestit amor…”, at centre: “Inscius non honorabitur”.

Magnificent proof, rich in tone, printed on contemporary laid paper, trimmed at the marginal line, perfectly executed restorations at the corners, traces of horizontal crease, otherwise in good condition.

After the painting by Bartholomäus Spranger, around 1596, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien

Wisdom is in the form of Minerva with one foot on ignorance, a man with donkey ears. A putto honors her with a laurel wreath. She has tied the hands of the man with a rope. Around them are seven personifications as a variation on the seven liberal arts: astronomy, music, geometry, painting, sculpture and rhetoric. Under the representation a four-line, Latin caption emphasizes that ignorant people are incapable of worshipping the arts.

Literature

Hollstein, XXI,115; Wurzbach 82.

Aegidius SADELER II (Anversa, 1570 circa - Praga, 1629).

The SADELER: Flemish family of artists, active throughout Europe. For three generations this family of engravers, publishers and print-sellers played a dominant role in European graphic art, producing work of great variety and high quality. They were descended from a line of steel-chisellers from Aalst . Jan de Saeyelleer (Sadeleer) had three sons, Jan Sadeler I, Aegidius Sadeler I and Raphael Sadeler I, the first generation of engravers, publishers and print-sellers. The religious and political uncertainties of the time forced them to emigrate, and they worked in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Venice and Prague. The next generation followed in their footsteps, of whom Aegidius Sadeler II, who worked for Rudolf II and his successors, was the most notable. Justus Sadeler, the son of Jan Sadeler I, and the three sons of Raphael Sadeler I—Jan Sadeler II, Raphael Sadeler II and Filips Sadeler—were lesser artists but continued the family tradition. The third generation was represented by Tobias Sadeler (fl Vienna, 1670–75), son of Aegidius Sadeler II; he executed engravings for topographical books. AEGIUDIUS SADELER II Engraver, draughtsman and painter, son of Aegidius Sadeler I. Around 1579 he went with his uncle Jan Sadeler I to Cologne and later, c. 1588, to Munich. None of the Sadelers ever definitely returned to their home district. In 1585 Aegidius was listed as a pupil of Jan Sadeler I in the records of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. In the first half of his career Aegidius regularly engraved the work of Hans von Aachen, Christoph Schwarz, Peter Candid and Marten de Vos. Among the most important engravings are the series of scenes from the New Testament, the Salus generi humani, the Nativity, the Holy Family with St Anne and Two Angels after von Aachen, the Crucifixion between the Two Thieves after Schwarz, the series of the Four Fathers of the Church after Candid and the series of the Story of David after de Vos.

Aegidius SADELER II (Anversa, 1570 circa - Praga, 1629).

The SADELER: Flemish family of artists, active throughout Europe. For three generations this family of engravers, publishers and print-sellers played a dominant role in European graphic art, producing work of great variety and high quality. They were descended from a line of steel-chisellers from Aalst . Jan de Saeyelleer (Sadeleer) had three sons, Jan Sadeler I, Aegidius Sadeler I and Raphael Sadeler I, the first generation of engravers, publishers and print-sellers. The religious and political uncertainties of the time forced them to emigrate, and they worked in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Venice and Prague. The next generation followed in their footsteps, of whom Aegidius Sadeler II, who worked for Rudolf II and his successors, was the most notable. Justus Sadeler, the son of Jan Sadeler I, and the three sons of Raphael Sadeler I—Jan Sadeler II, Raphael Sadeler II and Filips Sadeler—were lesser artists but continued the family tradition. The third generation was represented by Tobias Sadeler (fl Vienna, 1670–75), son of Aegidius Sadeler II; he executed engravings for topographical books. AEGIUDIUS SADELER II Engraver, draughtsman and painter, son of Aegidius Sadeler I. Around 1579 he went with his uncle Jan Sadeler I to Cologne and later, c. 1588, to Munich. None of the Sadelers ever definitely returned to their home district. In 1585 Aegidius was listed as a pupil of Jan Sadeler I in the records of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. In the first half of his career Aegidius regularly engraved the work of Hans von Aachen, Christoph Schwarz, Peter Candid and Marten de Vos. Among the most important engravings are the series of scenes from the New Testament, the Salus generi humani, the Nativity, the Holy Family with St Anne and Two Angels after von Aachen, the Crucifixion between the Two Thieves after Schwarz, the series of the Four Fathers of the Church after Candid and the series of the Story of David after de Vos.