2006.168: Hendrick Goltzius

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2006.168

People

Jacob Matham, Dutch (Haarlem, Netherlands 1571 - 1631 Haarlem, Netherlands)
After Hendrick Goltzius, Dutch (Mühlbracht 1558 - 1617 Haarlem, Netherlands)

Title

Hendrick Goltzius

Classification

Prints

Work Type

print

Date

1617

Culture

Dutch

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/315211

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Engraving printed in black ink on white antique laid paper

Technique

Engraving

Dimensions

plate: 44 × 29.4 cm (17 5/16 × 11 9/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• watermark: Shield with foolscap
• inscription: in plate, upper left and right: Cum privil. Sa. Cæ, Mtis. // Jacobus Matham / Goltzÿ priuignus sculp. / et excud
• inscription: engraved in plate, lower edge to left and right: ANNO / 1617.
• inscription: in plate, in oval border around portrait: HG[monogram]OLTZIVS SCVLPTOR ET PICTOR / ÆT. LIX. OBYT. Ao. CIƆ. ICI. XVII. 1o. Ian.
• inscription: in plate, in tablet below portrait, to left and right: Idea magni spiritus, atque ingeni, / Imago vera iam cadentis Goltzÿ; / Cui docta falces turba pictorū suos / Sub misit vitrò, quemq ceu numē colit, / In hoc theatro laudi atq adoræ // Meruit videri: testis hinc caducifer / Hinc docta; Pallas et decentes Gratiæ / Goltzi caducem nomen esse nō sinent, / Manuumq nexu gratioso vinculo / Spondent merenti posthumā famā viro / T. Schrevelius.
• collector's mark: verso, blue stamp with graphite numbering below: [Fogg Museum accession stamp (Lugt 936)] 2006.163
• inscription: in plate, above figures left and right: Spirito. / Disegno.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

State

ii/ii

Standard Reference Number

New Hollstein (Goltzius) 750, Bartsch 22, Hollstein 378

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Acquisition Fund for Prints

Accession Year

2006

Object Number

2006.168

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Descriptions

Commentary

When Hendrick Goltzius died in 1617, he left behind two painted self-portraits, described by his wife in her inventory of his estate. One of the self-portraits pictured him as being "completely bourgeois, with a small black cap on his head." Using the painting as his model, his stepson and protégé, Jacob Matham, engraved the portrayal within an elaborate, architectural framework. The tomblike ornamentation, including the two torches at top and the skull above his head, identify the image as a funerary portrait. The image of Goltzius is flanked by allegorical representations of Spirito (artist inspiration) and Disegno (design), the two qualities that drove Goltzius' artistic genius. Impressions of the print are very rare, perhaps because it was intended as a tribute circulated within a small group of intimates and admirers.

Exhibition History

• 32Q: 2300 Dutch & Flemish, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/01/2014 - 04/09/2015

Subjects and Contexts

• Google Art Project

Verification Level