HAGAR AND ISHMAEL IN THE DESERT

Original 9 5/8 inch x 7 5/8 inch Engraving titled HAGAR AND ISHMAEL IN THE DESERT.

”Hagar, the Egyptian bondwoman of Abraham, and the mother of his child Ismael, was cast out into the wilderness of Beer-sheba, together with the boy, in order to appease the jealousy of Sarah. She was provided with bread and a bottle of water; but the water was soon spent, and Hagar, in her despair, cast the child under one of the shrubs, and threw herself down a good way off, that she might not see the death-agonies of the boy.”

Illustration by Gustave Doré (1832 – 1883). The most popular and successful French book illustrator of the middle of the 19th century. Doré became widely known for his illustrations to such books as Danté’s Inferno (1861), Don Quixote (1862), and the Bible (1866), and he helped to give European currency to the illustrated book of large format. He was so prolific that at one time he employed more than forty wood engravers. His work is characterized by an eclectic mix of Michelangelesque nudes, northern traditions of sublime landscape, and a highly spirited love of the grotesque and bizarre.

Engraved by Antoine-Alphée Piaud (1813 – 1867).

From Doré’s illustrated edition of the Bible 1866.

This edition from Cassell’s ‘Doré Gallery’ published in 1885.

Page size 12 1/4 inch x 9 1/8 inch

The engraving is in very good condition. Reverse side blank.