Maerten De Vos (Antwerp 1532-1603)

This drawing, a typical example of De Vos’s style, appears to be made in preparation of an engraving in a series such as his 51 plates illustrating the Life and Passion of Christ (Hollstein’s Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700, 44, Rotterdam, 1996, pp. 69-87, nos. 275-325, 45, Rotterdam 1995, ill.). Since no print of the subject by De Vos exists, the design may have been rejected, perhaps to make place for other episodes of Christ’s life deemed more important than his parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14).