Six Sayings about Fortune
ca. 1560
Medium
Engraving
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Barbara and Howard Fox and Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Elkind Gifts, 2013
Accession Number
2013.118.1–.6
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling world of 16th-century Northern Renaissance printmaking, Dirck Volertsz Coornhert's *Six Sayings about Fortune* (ca. 1560) stands out as a witty moral allegory. This engraving captures the era's fascination with the capricious nature of fate, personified by Fortune—a common theme in Renaissance art inspired by classical antiquity and medieval proverbs. Coornhert, a versatile Dutch artist, engraver, and philosopher active in Haarlem, often infused his works with ethical commentary, reflecting the intellectual ferment of the Reformation. The composition cleverly illustrates six proverbial sayings through dynamic vignettes featuring men, female nudes, and boats, symbolizing life's unpredictable voyages. Fortune, likely depicted as a nude figure steering a precarious vessel, embodies the wheel of fortune's turns—rising and falling unpredictably. As an engraving, the work showcases Coornhert's masterful technique: intricate line work allows for fine details and tonal depth, enabling affordable reproduction and wide dissemination of humanist ideas across Europe. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, this print highlights how accessible engravings democratized moral lessons, blending sensuality with satire to engage viewers of all classes. A timeless reminder: fortune favors the bold—or the prepared!