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Jan Harmensz. Muller

Portrait of Hendrik Goltzius

Maker

Jan Harmensz. Muller (Dutch, 1571-1628)
After Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558-1617)

Title

Portrait of Hendrik Goltzius

Year

1617-1620

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

engraving

Supports

Dimensions

Plate/Image: 57.3 x 42.7 cm (22 9/16 x 16 13/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Verso:in pencil, LR:P.I. Exvscv

Marks: RISD Museum stamp in brown ink on verso.

Identification

State

2nd of 3

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

13.1161

Type

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

Jan Harmensz. Muller was perhaps the most outrageous of Goltzius’s followers, and his visually extravagant works promote the idea that engraved lines could exhibit sculptural or figural form in and of themselves. To commemorate his teacher in this portrait (created the year of Goltzius’s death) Muller organized the wide, swelling grooves with ample space between them to build a sculptural form matched by a sculptural niche. The niche area also displays a moiré pattern, an optical effect that creates a distracting visual interference when crossed lines are overlaid at slight angles. Goltzius himself avoided this effect.

Image use

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

Tombstone

Jan Harmensz. Muller (Dutch, 1571-1628)
After Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558-1617)
Portrait of Hendrik Goltzius, 1617-1620
Engraving on medium weight cream laid paper, trimmed within platemark
Plate/Image: 57.3 x 42.7 cm (22 9/16 x 16 13/16 inches)
Bequest of Isaac C. Bates 13.1161

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