signed and inscribed ‘I. Sadeler: auct: et : sculp:’ and titled ‘Bonorum et Malorum ….[suum
clemtissimum’ (in the plate)
engraving
1586
20.3 x 27.3 cm (plate); 22.7 x 29.9 cm (sheet)
Hollstein 41 [1], first and final state
A strong and dark impression with wide margins, there is a vertical drying fold through the
centre of the sheet, there is some occasional surface dirt, but the sheet is in otherwise very
good and untreated condition

This richly filled composition, laden with objects, figures and animals containing moralistic meaning and allegorical annotations, is the title page for Sadeler’s series showing the story of the family of Seth, published in 1586. Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve and his parents are shown here in the rather unusual way - as skeletons at the lower left and right. Eve, at lower left, is shown while holding the forbidden fruit while Adam, at right, holds a scroll that reads ‘You are dust and unto dust you shall return’. The
print is dedicated to Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (1529-1595), whose coat of arms is shown above the scroll along with the title of the series. The series, engraved after designs by Maarten de Vos (1532-1604), is titled ‘Bonorum et Malorum consensio’, referring to the knowledge of good and evil and the reward and punishment of these. It starts with a depiction of a young Seth coming home to his father Adam and continues with further episodes from his life and that of Noah, a descendent of Seth.

[1] C. Schuckman, Hollstein’s Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts. 1450-1700.
Volume XLIV. Maarten de Vos, vol. Text, Rotterdam, 1996, p. 16, vol. Plates I, p. 20.