Northern European School (first quarter of the 17^thCentury), The Martyrdom of St Peter; The Martyrdom of Saint Paul, a pair, gouache on vellum, heightened with white, with framing lines in brown ink, both laid down on wood, each c. 75 x 96 mm. (2 7/8 x 3 3/4 in), the latter inscribed 'Callot/ 1592 + 1635/ martyre de St. Pa-/ -t Paul' on backing board, (2)

Literature:
Joachim Jacoby, Die Zeichnungen von Adam Elsheimer: Kritischer Katalog, Frankfurt, 2008, p. 343, note 262

⁂ While the traditional attribution to Jacques Callot (1592-1635) for the present drawings, as inscribed on the reverse, seems problematic, the exquisite jewel-like quality and skill of the draughtsman is without doubt; the refined and detailed composition of each martyrdom does not relate to any known etching by Callot. Nevertheless, it is possible to assert with some confidence that the artist was influenced by the small-scale religious paintings executed on copper by Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610), which the artist was producing when in Rome during the last decade of his life. For comparative works see The Genius of Rome 1592-1623, exh. cat., London, Royal Academy, and Rome, Palazzo Venezia, 2001, cat. nos. 65-7.