The Expense of Litigation, from Litis Abusus (The Abuses of the Law)
c. 1576
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 18.1 × 23 cm (7 3/16 × 9 1/16 in.); sheet: 27.5 × 33 cm (10 7/8 × 13 in.)
Classification
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
268411
Art Historical Context
**The Expense of Litigation**, created around 1576 by the renowned Dutch engraver Hendrick Gzius, is a print from his satirical series *Litis Ab (The Abuses of Law)*. This work critiques the burdensome financial toll of prolonged lawsuits in th-century Europe, a when legal disputes were rampant amid social and political upheavals like Dutch Revolt. Goltzius, a pivotal figure in Mannerism, used sharp visual wit to expose societal flaws, making complex commentary accessible through intricate prints. Masterfully executed as an engraving on luxurious ivory laid paper (plate: 18.1 × 23 cm), the te...
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...