Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • Collection
  • Collection Research
  • Past Exhibitions
  • Watch / Listen / Read

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum
Previous image 1 2 3 / 3 Next image

Hendrick Goltzius

Portrait of Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert

Maker

Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558-1617)

Title

Portrait of Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert

Year

1591

Medium

  • Engraving on medium weight cream laid paper,
  • trimmed along and within platemark

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Engraving on medium weight cream laid paper,
  • trimmed along and within platemark

Materials

engraving

Supports

  • Medium weight cream laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 52.2 x 41.3 cm (20 9/16 x 16 1/4 inches) (border plate)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Recto:in brown ink, LR:Nº. 336Verso:in pencil, LL:34448In Plate-- Titled around portrait:THEODORVS CORNHERTIVS, AD VIVVM DEPICTVS ET AERI INCISVS AB H. GOLTZIO./NATVS AMSTELREDAMI Aº CIC(las

Marks: Watermark:crown over shield(?) over 3 balls RISD Museum stamp in brown ink on verso Ernst F. Oppermann collector mark in blue ink on verso (Lugt 887)

Identification

State

3rd of 3

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.1166

Type

  • Prints

Publications

  • Books

The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650

Renaissance engravings are objects of exquisite beauty and incomparable intricacy that are composed entirely of lines. Artists began using this intaglio process in Europe as early as 1430. This captivating catalogue focuses on the height of the medium, from 1480 to 1650, when engravers made dramatic and rapid visual changes to engraving technique as they responded to the demands of reproducing artworks in other media. The Brilliant Line follows these visual transformations and offers new insight into the special inventiveness and technical virtuosity of Renaissance and Baroque (Early Modern) engravers. The three essays discuss how engraving’s restrictive materials and the physical process of engraving informed its visual language; the context for the spread of particular engraving styles throughout Europe; and the interests, knowledge, and skills that Renaissance viewers applied when viewing and comparing engravings by style or school.

Exhibition History

The Brilliant Line
Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650
Sep 18, 2009 – Jan 03, 2010

Label copy

This portrait of Goltzius’s early teacher demonstrates how far Goltzius had moved from his mentor’s technique of emphasizing parallel hatching and contour lines by 1591. The loose, sagging skin is created by a network of swelling lines, short strokes, and dots that define the intermediate tones. The man’s shadow, cast into the niche, convinces us of the engraving’s inscription, that Goltzius depicted Coornhert “from life” (ad vivum).

Dirck Volkersz. Coornhert was an artist, intellectual, and outspoken statesman who had been exiled from Haarlem due to his liberal religious convictions. The border features Coornhert’s device, “Know, or let go” (Weet of rust), which expresses his belief that man cannot know all divine mysteries, and the wise refrain from acting in haste in the face of uncertainty. Goltzius created this engraving the year of his teacher’s death. Its large scale offers a tribute to his master, while its technical virtuosity affirms his excellent guidance.

Master Prints from the Permanent Collection
Jun 21, 1985 – Sep 08, 1985

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558-1617)
Portrait of Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert, 1591
Engraving on medium weight cream laid paper, trimmed along and within platemark
Plate: 52.2 x 41.3 cm (20 9/16 x 16 1/4 inches) (border plate)
Bequest of Isaac C. Bates 13.1166

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Main Navigation

  • Visit

    • Hours & Admission
    • Accessibility & Amenities
    • Tours & Group Visits
    • Visitor Guidelines
  • Art & Design

    • Collection Research
    • Collection
    • Past Exhibitions
  • Join / Give

    • Become a Member
    • Give
  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Events
  • Watch / Listen / Read

    • The Latest
    • Publications
    • Articles
    • Audio & Video

Footer Secondary Navigation

  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use
Tickets
Homepage
Go to the risd.edu homepage. This link will open in a new window.