HENDRIK GOLTZIUS
Muhlbracht 1558 – 1616 Haarlem
Engraver,
publisher, draughtsman and painter, Goltzius
was one of the outstanding figures in Dutch
art during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
He
had settled in Haarlem in 1576 -77 as a journeyman
engraver; a malformed right hand, caused
by a childhood accident, happily turned out
to be well-suited to holding a burin, the
tool used for engraving.
Initially
Goltzius worked for the publisher Philips
Galle but in 1582 he established his own
publishing house and printmaking workshop.
With his friends, Carel van Mander and Cornelis
van Haarlem, Goltzius founded an art academy
in Haarlem. With life classes, it was also
a meeting place for artists to discuss both
practice and Mannerist aesthetics.
Agatha
Scholiers (?)
Bartsch 210; Hollstein 225
iv/iv 159 x 120 mm
Original engraving, c1583.
The plate
signed. Final state, with the nose straightened
and its tip rounded.
On laid paper with the
countermark: initials IVC.
Fine accidental
diagonal scratches on the chin.
Ex
collections:
Dr Julius Hofmann (Lugt 1264)
Marcel Mirault (Lugt 1892a)
Traditionally
thought to be a portrait of Agatha Scholiers,
Goltzius’ mother-in-law, it has
been suggested recently that it may be Anna
Fullings, Goltzius’ mother.
According
to Wikipedia Goltzius’ relations
with his wife were not good, which may explain
the grim text lines beneath which translate
as
What
deterioration comes with each passing day
Our parents’ era even more than that of
our forebears
has made us still less fit
causing us to produce even more defective progeny
or could he be attacking his mother for not
guarding him against the fire that caused
the damage to his hand?
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