Who painted Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar?

Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar was painted by William Faithorne in 1653.

Where can I see Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar?

Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar?

Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar is associated with Baroque.

Artwork

Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar

William Faithorne , 1653

Title Page to Jeremy Taylor, The Great Exemplar is an ink print by the Baroque artist William Faithorne. It dates from 1653 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

William Faithorne’s 1653 engraving serves as the title page for Jeremy Taylor’s work The Great Exemplar. Executed as a single plate, the image combines a central devotional scene with a surrounding decorative border, all framed by ornamental scrollwork and inscribed titles. The print functions both as an illustration and as a visual introduction to the theological text it precedes.

Subject & Meaning

At the heart of the composition a woman cradles an infant while an angel hovers above, evoking the Nativity and the protective presence of the divine.

At the heart of the composition a woman cradles an infant while an angel hovers above, evoking the Nativity and the protective presence of the divine. Encircling this focal group are six subsidiary vignettes—among them a scribe at work, a shipwreck, a conflagration, and other active figures—suggesting the manifold trials and salvations addressed in Taylor’s treatise on the life and death of Christ.

Technique & Style

Faithorne employed the intaglio engraving method, incising fine lines into a copper plate to achieve intricate detail and tonal variation. The contrast between the densely hatched decorative border and the smoother modeling of the central figures demonstrates his mastery of line work, while the balanced arrangement of narrative miniatures reflects the orderly aesthetic of mid‑seventeenth‑century English printmaking.

History & Provenance

Printed in 1653, the title page was originally bound to the first editions of The Great Exemplar, a devotional volume circulated among Anglican readers. Surviving copies are documented in several British library collections, indicating the print’s role in disseminating Taylor’s theological ideas during the Commonwealth and early Restoration periods.

Context

The engraving appears at a time when religious literature often featured elaborate frontispieces to attract and instruct readers. Faithorne, a prominent London engraver, frequently collaborated with authors of moral and spiritual works, providing visual allegories that complemented the textual arguments of authors like Jeremy Taylor.