European Art and Old Masters

Note Deemed "the greatest publisher of the century," Pierre Mariette II was the son of Pierre Mariette I and continued his father's legacy as Paris' most prominent print dealer and collector. In 1655, Mariette married Madeleine de Colmont, widow of famous print dealer and publisher François Langlois. Through this union, Mariette joined the two family trades into a prosperous business set "Aux Colonnes d'Hercule," in Paris' oldest street, rue Saint Jacques, which enjoyed a considerable reputation and relied on on a faithful, famous, and ever-growing clientele. Langlois himself was known for frequently working as agent to the Earl of Arundel and King Charles I of England. Mariette assured his monopoly by cultivating friendships with the artists he represented, and by expanding his business far outside Paris, to Italy and the Netherlands. Such close relationships were key to his heirs, first to his fourth son Jean, born in 1660, and later to his grandson, the great Pierre-Jean Mariette, who succesfully embarked on the path traced by his ancestors, and who rapidly showed himself worthy of the Mariette name by being the assured expert and astute collector he was at just 20 years old. The variety of the prints on which Pierre Mariette's signature can be found is a testament to his eclectic, expert taste. The present work was not the only etching by Dürer in his collection, as revealed by the 16 copies of The Engraved Passion now in the British Museum in London, all marked with Pierre Mariette's handwritten signature. Saint Eustace is one of Dürer’s most important, as well as his largest engraving. It depicts the conversion of Placidus, a Roman general, to Christianity. According to legend, Placidus came upon a stag while hunting, and saw a vision of the crucifix appearing between the animal’s antlers. The stag spoke to Placidus in Christ’s voice, and Placidus, falling from his horse and shown kneeling, was converted to Eustace, the patron saint of hunters.