The Unhappy Lot of the Rich
by HEEMSKERCK, Maerten van, Pen in brown, 161 x 232 mm
This drawing was a design for a print, the fifth in a series of six that was engraved by Philip Galle in 1563. The six prints are composed in such a way that when placed side by side they can be read as a running frieze consisting of a long procession of allegorical and historical figures.
The number of prints after designs by Heemskerck is impressive: around 600 in all.