8-Antique Master Prints-STORY OF JOB-COMPLETE SERIES-Galle-Heemskerck-1563

‘PLATE 1: DUM SATURIS DAPIBUS, DUM LUSIBUS OTIA FESTIS / CONSUMUNT NATI C?VO NON DISSUASOR HONESTI / PR?CIPITAS LUXUS PRECIBUS SACRISQUE LITABAT / DIVES OPUM, ET PACEM DIV?M EXPOSCEBAT IOBUS. HAN.B.’

– Plate 1: Job, kneeling before a stone altar, offers a burnt sacrifice on behalf of his children, seen feasting in the background. Around him, his family and attendants react with piety and devotion. Smoke from the sacrifice ascends toward the heavens. Plate 2: God enthroned on clouds, orb in hand, addresses a gathering of angels and saints. Satan, horned and winged, stands prominently at left among the divine assembly, pointing toward the mortal world where Job appears with his family. Plate 3: Job lies prone, stricken with grief, as messengers surround him, each delivering news of calamities: collapsing homes, dead children, stolen herds. Job’s wife stands sorrowful at right. Fires and disasters depicted in the background. Plate 4: God enthroned on clouds with globe, surrounded by angels. Satan at right raises hand as he speaks, challenging God to remove Job’s protection. Job seated lower left, symbolizing the subject of dispute. Classic Mannerist composition. Plate 5: Job sits on the ground, afflicted by painful boils, while Satan strikes him with a rod. Job’s wife gestures toward him in despair. A crumbled city and skulls in the landscape add to the image of desolation. This is the moment Satan smites Job with disease after God’s permission. Plate 6: Job sits on a dunghill in despair, his body covered in sores. Around him are mourners and friends, one of whom gestures in speech. The ruins of Job’s house burn in the background, adding to the desolation. His companions offer no comfort, intensifying his suffering. Plate 7: Job sits on a pile of rubble, still afflicted, while in the background his friends are instructed by God to offer sacrifices for their error in judgment. God appears in the heavens, commanding the restoration of justice. Herds of cattle and figures bearing offerings are depicted in the background. Plate 8: Job, now restored and seated, receives gifts from men and women who bring him gold, livestock, and goods. In the background, a feast is being held, likely symbolizing Job’s renewed prosperity. The plate emphasizes the reward of patience and divine justice following suffering.