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Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617)
Goltzius, a painter and an engraver both on metal and on wood, was
born at Mülbrecht, in the duchy of Jülich. His father, Johann
Goltzius, was an eminent glass-painter, who instructed him in the
first principles of art; and he was taught engraving by Dirk Cuerenhert.
His progress was such, that he soon surpassed his master, who employed
him to engrave some plates, and he also executed several for Philipp
Galle. In his twenty-first year he married a wealthy widow, the
mother of Jakob Matham, which enabled him to establish a printing
office of his own, but did not advance his happiness, and in fact
the continued domestic discord so preyed upon his health that it
led to his travelling to southern lands. He passed through Germany
to Italy, where his studies were particularly directed to the works
of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Polidoro da Caravaggio. A too vehement
desire to imitate the style of Michelangelo led him frequently into
outrageous and extravagant designs, which are not always compensated
by the extraordinary excellence of his graver. During his residence
at Rome, he engraved several plates after Raphael, Polidoro, and
others. On his return to Holland he settled at Haarlem, where he
engraved several plates from the Flemish and Dutch masters. He imitated
with the greatest success the styles of Albrecht Dürer, Lucas
van Leyden, and other admired old masters, and produced a set of
six large plates, called the 'Masterpieces of Goltzius,' not because
they are his best productions, but as showing how perfectly he could
copy the particular manner of those artists whose works were held
in higher estimation than his own. He had reached his forty-second
year when he commenced painting. His first picture represented the
'Crucifixion,' with the Virgin Mary and St John, and it is commended
by Van Mander for the excellence of the colouring, and the boldness.
Goltzius is more famous as an engraver than a painter, and his prints
amount to more than five hundred in number. Goltzius died at Haarlem.
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