Encyclopaedia of Religious Rites and Ceremonies of All Nations, a fabulous work in the early 18th century

Bernard Picart is a french engraver and drawner born in Paris in 1673 and dead in Amsterdam in 1733.

His most famous work is Encyclopaedia of Religious Rites and Ceremonies of All Nations (in french: Traité des cérémonies religieuses et coutumes de toutes les nations). It is actually a compilation of edited texts by a number of French authors concerned with religious practices in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the East Indies. Within the stated topic of religious ceremonies and customs, a variety of social habits and interactions are described, many accompanied by marvellous, if often imaginative, engravings. Some of the illustrations are rather fanciful, placing Indians in settings that suggest ancient Roman architecture and statuary or traditional European carpentry, furniture, and decorative wooden floors. Bernard's collection treats such individual topics as combat, sacrifices, religion, funeral customs, romance, and marriage, drawing from disparate sources for their interest value.

Original print on laid paper from 1723 drawn and engraved by Bernard Picart. Intaglio engraving ("au burin") of Portuguese Jews at Easter meal.

We can note the interest of this print not only with the custom of the Portuguese Jews but also the decoration and costums of these people in the early of 18th century.

Original print on laid paper from 1730 drawn and engraved by Bernard Picart. Intaglio engraving ("au burin") of The distribution of the sacred flame to the Greeks by the Patriarch.
Symbol of the resurrection of Christ, "the sacred flame" was lit in the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jérusalem. That is where the tradition is the last episodes of the Passion of Christ, his crucifixion, his tomb and his miraculous return to life. Greeks still celebrate every year this custom in Jerusalem.

Original print on laid paper from 1732 drawn and engraved by Bernard Picart. Intaglio engraving ("au burin") of The dance of the Whirling Dervishes.

The Whirling Dervishes belong to the Mevlevi order who is a Sufi muslim order founded in Konya in the thirteenth century by Jalal al-Din Rumi. We called them whirling dervisches in reference to their dance called sama '(or planted), whose movements are reminiscent of a top.

Original print on laid paper from 1726 drawn and engraved by Bernard Picart. Intaglio engraving ("au burin") of The wedding ceremony in Java: the man brings at home the Bridal.

In this print, we can see the fantasy and the imagination of Bernard Picart!

PRINT ENGRAVING ETCHING FRENCH FRANCE ANTIQUE ANTIQUARIAN SYDNEY DRAWNING AUSTRALIA INDONESIA JAWA JUDAICA JEWS BUY FRENCH ANTIQUE PRINT

You can come to visit my e-store where I sell some original antique maps and prints: http://stores.ebay.com.au/moncabinetdestampes