Hendrick Goltzius - Engraver, Designer and Publisher 1582-1600

Hendrick Goltzius - Engraver, Designer and Publisher 1582-1600 Jan Piet Filedt Kok ForJosua Bruyn on his 70th birthday 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 ~ux Quatre Vents', run by Hieronymus Cock's widow. Between 1577 and 1581, he engraved for them about 90 plates, 27 after designs by Stradanus, 14 after designs by Maerten de Vos, one after a design by Anthonie Blocklandt and about 50 after his own designs. 1 From 1582 on, Goltzius built up over a relatively short period oftime a stock ofhis own publications not all that different in composition and range from those ofthe great Antwerp publishers. Characteristic ofhis stock is the fact that practically all the prints reproduced new designs by contemporary artists, mainly Goltzius himselt: but also by Bartholomeus Spranger and Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem. In contrast to most print publishers ofthe time, he did not republish older plates previously manufactured outside his studio.2 In his work for Antwerp publishers from around 1580, Goltzius' early engraving style (fig. 121a) hardly deviated from that ofthe contempor ary professional engravers active in Antwerp. From 1582 on, however, he developed a new virtuoso engraving style (fig. 12Ib-f), 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 ofprints after his own designs. His stepson, Jacob Matham (1571-1631), was Goltzius' faithful collaborator between c.1587 and 1598. Students such as Jacques de Gheyn 11 (1565-1617) and Jan Muller (1571-1628) left Goltzius' studio after a few years and established themselves as independent engravers in Amster dam in 1588 and 1590 respectively. Jan Saenredam (c.1565-1607), who proba bly began to study with Goltzius in 1589 and studied with Jacques de Gheyn 11 the following two years, regularly engraved prints after Goltzius designs from 1592 on. While their names appear as engravers on many of the prints designed by Goltzius, there are also many similar engravings on which no engraver's name is specified, particularly fron1 the period between 1585-90. Over the course of the years, the number of sheets engraved by Goltzius himself diminished but at the same time his prints became more 160 Jan Piet Filedt Kok 68a. remarkable in character. The prints of the later eighties are a tour de force in Detail from fig. 70 (B. 263): 1582 format, language offorms and virtuosity, while in the nineties a varied aes thetic 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 com ponent ofhis stock. In prints after his own designs, a classical style emerged, 68b. one which strongly differed from the affected, mannerist style of the eigh Detail from fig. 78 (B. 139): 1585 ties. During this period he had two main collaborators, Jacob Matham and Jan Saenredam. Matham mainly engraved reproductive prints after Italian masters during his stay in Italy between 1594 and 1597 and Jan Saenredam engraved Goltzius' designs probably from his home in Assendelft. In 1598 Goltzius engraved his last prints and probably turned over his engraving stu dio to Jacob Matham, though it seems likely that he formally remained a publisher until 1601 when the royal privilege awarded to him by RudolfII in April 1595 expired. 68c Detail from fig. 93 (Anonymous B. 31): From 1600 on Goltzius dedicated himselfto painting, although he still 1589 furnished Matham and others with designs for prints. In addition, Matham made prints after a few ofGoltzius' paintings (see the article ofL. Widerkehr in this volume, 244-47). This article will reconstruct Goltzius' print production, not only the prints which he engraved himself but also the much larger holdings created in his studio. Vntil now the research into Goltzius' stylistic development has 68d. 3 Detail from fig. 105 (B. 15): 1594 concentrated on his drawings and the prints he himselfengraved. Since the appearance ofvolume 3 ofBartsch's Peintre-graveur, 4 the prints after Goltzius' designs have been described under the name of the engraver, Goltzius, Matham, Muller, Saenredam and others, and stored in this way in print rooms. The reconstruction ofGoltzius' puhlished 'oeuvre'. The reconstruction of Goltzius' published reuvre is based mainly on the 68e. Detail from fig. 113 (Saenredam B. 62): information provided by the inscriptions on the prints: the name of the 1596 designer (invenit) , the engraver (sculpsit), the publisher (excudebat) , and often a date. The predominantly Latin inscriptions were often accompanied by the name or initials ofthe poet and sometimes the print was dedicated to a known collector or patron. By combining this data with stylistic conside rations, it is possible to date undated prints within a few years. The authors ofthe poems, notably, provide a good point ofreference: - Franco Estius (1544-1594?), a Catholic humanist in Haarlem, his poems were first used as inscriptions for prints published by Goltzius and others in Haarlem in 1586 and then mainly between 1589 and 1594. 5 68f - Cornelis Schoneus (1540-1611) was principal of the Latin school in Detail from fig. 120 (Matham B. 162): Haarlem between 1575 and 1610; we find either his name or his initials under 1597· poems in Latin on prints by Goltzius' studio between 1594 and 1602.6 - Petrus Scriverius (1576-1660), poet and publisher; his Latin poems are found by way of exception on Goltzius school prints; the first appears in 1597 on the engraving ofFrederick de vries (B. 190; fig. 116).7 - Theodoor Schrevelius (1572-1649) was principal of the Latin school in.

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