Goltzius´ wonderful and visually striking complete suite of engravings representing the Passion of Christ, inspired and etched in the manner of Lucas van Leyden.
The suite was dedicated to the cardina of Milan, Federico Borromeo, founder of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana. The dedication is on the first plate, depicting the dinner, in a scroll in the upper center: “Ill.mo Reverendissimoque Domino, D. Frederico Borromeo, Cardinali S. Mariae de Angelis, Archiepiscopo Medeolanensi. H Goltzius in debiti officij, atque amoris testimonium D.D.”.
(1559-1617)
“In 1582 Hendrick Goltzius published a print bearing for the first time the inscription ´gedruckt tot Haerlem´ (printed in Haerlem). Until then Antwerp had been the center of Netherlandish print production and Goltzius, who had settled in Haarlem in 1577, had been furnishing plates to Antwerp publishers such as Philips Galle and the ´Aux Quatre Vents´, run by Hieronymus Cock´s widow… From 1582 on, Goltzius bult up over a relatively short period of time a stock of his own publications not all that different in composition and range from those of the great Antwerp publishers… In contrast to most print publishers of the time, he did not republish older plates previously manufactured outside his studio… From 1582 on, however, he developed a new virtuoso engraving style, one closely tied to the idealized language of forms created by Spranger, which became the great artistic model especially in the second half of the eighties. By 1585, he had already begun to include assistants and students in the production of prints after his own desings… Over the course of the years, the number of sheet engraved by Goltzius himself diminished but at the same time his prints became more remarkable in character. The prints of the later eighties are a tour de force in format, language of forms and virtuosity, while in the nineties a varied aesthetic and superior engraving technique dominated his work. Goltzius´ trip to Italy between 1590-91 made for a clean break in his print production. From 1592-93 on, reproductive prints after Raphael and Polidoro da Caravaggio, based on drawings he had made in Rome, were a regular component of his stock. In prints after his own designs, a classical style emerged, one which strongly differed from the affected, mannerist style of the eighties.” (Kok, Jan Piet Filedt. “Hendrick Goltzius – Engraver, Designer and Publisher 1582-1600.” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek (NKJ) / Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art 42/43 (1991): 159–218).
The motivation of this dedication remains rather generic, perhaps referring to a debt of gratitude to the cardinal.
Provenance: On verso collection mark of Jan Reinier Voûte (Lugt 4450)
Bartsch, 27-38; Hollstein 21-32.
