Circumcision in the Church of St Bavo at Haarlem
by GOLTZIUS, Hendrick, Engraving, 470 x 355 mm
In 1593 and 1594 Goltzius executed a remarkable series of imitations of the styles of renowned printmakers and painters. The series is devoted to the Life of the Virgin, the theme of a famous series of prints by Albrecht D�rer, the first artist to have made a career out of virtuoso printmaking. One of the finest engravings in Goltzius’s series, the Circumcision, emulates D�rer’s silvery brilliance. Van Mander mentioned that Goltzius made one impression look old, to fool collectors into believing D�rer was its author. The self-consciousness of the exercise is clarified by Goltzius’s self-portrait as witness, in the right background, and the event’s setting in Haarlem’s church of St Bavo.