"Death is a Haven, to which all winds drive..."
Jean Ganière (French, c. 1615-1666 Paris), after Artemisia Gentileschi
Memento Mori
1640 (published by Peter Stent, London, c. 1642-1665, with English inscription added)
engraving and stipple engraving on paper
15,5 x 22 cm
engraved inscription lower right within the image: "P. Stent excud."
engraved inscription below: "Fix this rare Emblem on thy Closet Dore, Death is a Haven, to which all winds drive, Be therefore wise, that when thy Corps shall lie And be in love with Vanity no more. And where at last each Mortall must arrive At Anchor thus thy Soule may mount on high."
presumably to be read thus:
"Fix this rare Emblem on thy Closet Dore,
And be in love with Vanity no more:
Death is a Haven to which all Winds drive,
And where at last each Mortall must arrive;
Be therefore wise, that when thy Corps shall lie
At Anchor thus, thy Soul, may mount on high."
See Miscellanea sacra: or, A Curious Collection of Original Poems, upon Divine and Moral Subjects (London: printed for Henry Playford, 1698-1705).
an excellent, high-contrast impression with small margins around the depiction, trimmed below up to the text
condition: smoothed vertical center fold; minimally stained; short, carefully closed tear in the margin lower left; otherwise in very good condition
This print is believed to be based upon a lost painting by Artemisia Gentileschi (IFF 20).
The print appears to be quite rare. It is not listed in Alexander Globe's 1985 catalogue raisonné of engravings published by Peter Stent. It is also missing from the comprehensive holdings of the British Museum; only the Victoria & Albert Museum in London lists this sheet in its collection (inv. no. E.1769-1991).
"Peter Stent was a printseller, who from the early 1640s until his death ran one of the biggest printmaking businesses of the day. In around 1642, he opened a shop in Giltspur Street, London, where he sold engravings printed on his own rolling presses. The civil wars presented Stent with the opportunity to purchase over 700 plates from a number of printsellers and artists, and he ended up holding over eight times as many plates as any of his predecessors. He published prints across a variety of subjects, from business forms to portraits." National Portrait Gallery, London.