Jan Luyken – Dirk Willems, Saving the Pursuer

In the winter of 1569, a man fleeing for his faith turned back to save the very officer pursuing him. That man was Dirk Willems — an Anabaptist from Asperen whose act of mercy on a frozen Dutch river has become one of the most enduring images in the history of religious conscience.

Jan Luyken's etching, published in the Martyrs Mirror (1685), has carried this story across the centuries. It captures the exact moment Willems reaches back toward the man who has fallen through the ice — knowing that to save him means his own recapture. He was burned at the stake later that year.

This mug bears the complete engraving as it appears in the 1685 edition, cropped to the platemark and printed across the full porcelain surface.

Fine Porcelain — 10 oz. Dishwasher and microwave safe.

Jan Luyken, Dirk Willemsz. redt zijn vervolger uit het ijs bij Asperen, 1569, etching, in Thieleman J. van Braght, Het Bloedig Tooneel of Martelaers Spiegel, Amsterdam 1685. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-78.442. Public domain.

Selected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.