Sacra dies pentecostes

This engraving comes from Evangelica Historiae Imagines (Illustrations of the Gospel Stories), first published in Antwerp in 1595, with a text by the important Spanish Jesuit and lieutenant of St Ignatius Loyola, Jerome Nadal. In chronological order its 153 engravings address the life and ministry of Jesus. Plate 149, Sacra dies pentecostes (Holy Day of the Pentecost) depicts Acts 2: 2 (2-6) from the New Testamant, where the Apostles and other believers are gathered in the Cenacle, Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit appears: "Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

The engraving is by Johannes Wierix and his brother Anton II Wierix, prolific Flemish engravers of the late 16th/early 17th centuries, probably after an original drawing by Bernardino Passeri (c. 1540-1596), a Rome-based artist noted for his designs for prints. Our copy is in the so-called King George IV album of Old Master prints, acquired by the Dominion Museum in 1910.

See:

British Museum Collection online, http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=112172

Jerome Nadal, 'Illustrations of Gospel Stories', http://catholic-resources.org/Art/Nadal.htm

Dr Mark Stocker          Curator, Historical International Art        March 2017