Art Institute of Chicago

The Circumcision, plate four from The Birth and Early Life of Christ

Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558-1617)

Date

1594

Medium

Engraving on off-white laid paper

Culture

Netherlands

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This celebrated print belongs to the Life of the Virgin series. Goltzius's composition and method of using burin is deceptively close to that of Albrecht Dürer. Although Goltzius succeeded in capturing Dürer's style, he also imposed his own ideas and settings. The artist set the scene in an exact rendering of a chapel of St. Bravo's Church in Haarlem. The artist also portrayed himself standing in the arched doorway in the background, gazing out at the viewer. This is the earliest extant portrait of the artist.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.