Proserpine, plate five from Demogorgon and the Deities
c. 1588–90
Medium
Chiaroscuro woodcut in black and two shades of gray on paper
Dimensions
Oval: 34.5 × 26.1 cm (13 5/8 × 10 5/16 in.)
Classification
woodcut
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
36030
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Although Goltzius's advances in line engraving found many followers, few pursued his equally original exploration of chiaroscuro woodcuts. This is one of a series of six oval-format chiaroscuro woodcuts of male and female goddesses. Persephone was abducted by Pluto to Hades and retrieved for six months each year by Demeter, her mother; with the establishment of this natural cycle, she is considered a symbol of fertility.
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...