HENDRIK GOLTZIUS (1558-1617) - Lot 151

HENDRIK GOLTZIUS (1558-1617) Circumcision, 1594 Burin Proof numbered 4 lower left, printed on laid paper. Height 48.5 cm. Width : 36 cm. Missing margins, tear top right, folds. The Circumcision is the fourth plate in a series of six plates known as Goltzius' masterpieces. Goltzius was inspired by Dürer's woodcut composition of the Circumcision (1503-1505) for his Life of the Virgin series. Goltzius deviates from this by his choice of chisel, the larger dimensions of his plate and his decision to set the scene in a chapel in Haarlem's St. Bavo church. His version of the Circumcision bears a double signature, his monogram engraved in the manner of Dürer in a tablet placed on the ground in the foreground, and his self-portrait staring back at us from the chapel entrance.