Nicolaus Petri van Deventer
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 9.1 × 8.1 cm (3 5/8 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
267669
Art Historical Context
Behold Hendrick Goltzius's *Nicolaus Petri van Deventer (1595), a engraving on paper now housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Prints and Drawings. This intimate portrait, measuring just 9.1 × 8.1 cm, captures the likeness of Nicolaus Petri van Deventer, a notable Dutch architect and military engineer of the Renaissance era. Goltzius, a leading Haarlem printmaker, renders the subject with striking realism, his finely trimmed sheet inviting close contemplation. Goltzius, a virtuoso of the Dutch Mannerist style, showcases his revolutionary engraving technique here—characterized by bold, swellin...
About the Artist
Hendrick Goltzius · 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...