Hans Bol
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
10 1/4 x 7 3/16 in. (26 x 18.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Henry Walters, by exchange, 1940
Accession Number
40.52.100
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite engraving, titled *Hans Bol* and created in 1593 by the Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius a design by Hans Bol, captures portrait of the Flemish painter Hans Bol (1536–1593). Measuring 10¼ × 7⅜ inches, it exemplifies the refined printmaking techniques of the late Northern Renaissance, where Goltzius's virtuosic engraving—using fine lines and subtle tonal gradations—brought unprecedented realism and expressiveness to paper. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Drawings and Prints, it was generously gifted in 1940. The composition centers on Bol's dignified liken...
About the Artist
Hendrick Goltzius|Hans Bol · 1558–1617
Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) was the most celebrated engraver of the Northern Renaissance and a pivotal figure in Dutch Mannerism. Born near the German-Dutch border, Goltzius transformed printmaking into a virtuoso art form through his revolutionary 'swelling line' technique, where the burin was manipulated to create lines of varying thickness that produced unprecedented tonal effects and three-d...