Currently not on view
Frederick de Vries with Goltzius’s Dog,
1597
Hendrick Goltzius, 1558–1617; born Mülbracht, Netherlands; died Haarlem, Netherlands
x1934-678
Goltzius, a leading Dutch engraver of his time, was the guardian of Frederick de Vries while his father, the painter Dirck de Vries, was away in Venice. In this elaborate print, Goltzius depicts his charge climbing onto the artist’s dog, playfully evoking a knight mounting his trusty steed. The engraving is thus a double portrait—of young Frederick and of Goltzius’s spaniel. As the artist explains in the Latin inscription, simplicity (the innocent boy) seeks and loves faithfulness (the dog). In seventeenth-century writings, the dog was described as a teacher charged with looking after man. Here, the dog stands in for the artist himself, as devoted instructor and guardian of the child.
Information
Title
Frederick de Vries with Goltzius’s Dog
Dates
1597
Maker
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
plate (sheet trimmed to plate): 35.8 × 26.7 cm (14 1/8 × 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan, Class of 1888
Object Number
x1934-678
Place Made
Europe, Netherlands
Inscription
Initialed and dated in plate lower left: Privil. Sa. Cae. M. Anno 1597 / HG
Dedication in cartouche at bottom center: Theodorico Frisio Pictor egrogio / aput Venetos amicitiæ et filij absentis / repræsentandi gratia D.D. [squiggle]
Two Latin distichs in margin, left and right: Quid tabula hae capiat, fors non capis: en tibi paucis / Mentom, simpluitas quorit amat[?] fideom. / Fida canis, simplex[?] puor, quos Goltzius apto / Vivero Phidiaca foeit in cre manu.
Signed in plate in margin, lower right corner: P. Seriverius
Marks/Labels/Seals
Collector's stamp, lower center: Edme-Antoine Durand (Lugt 741)
Reference Numbers
Bartsch 59.190; Hollstein 218; New Hollstein 256; Strauss 344
Type
Materials
Techniques
Edme-Antoine Durand [1768-1835, Lugt 741]; sale of his collection, Paris, January 25, 1836, lot 62. Junius S. Morgan [1867-1932]; bequeathed to Princeton University Art Museum, 1932.
-
F.W.H. Hollstein, "Goltzius-Heemskerck," Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700, (Amsterdam: M. Hertzberger, 1953).
, nos. 21-32 - Otto Hirschmann and E. W. Moes, Hendrik Goltzius, Verzeichnis des graphischen Werks (Braunschweig: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1976)., nos. 21-32
- Marjolein Leesberg, "Hendrick Goltzius," New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, 1450-1700 (Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel: Sound & Vision Publishers, in co-operation with the Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2012)., nos. 17-28
- Walter L. Strauss, ed., Hendrik Goltzius, 1558-1617: the complete engravings and woodcuts (New York: Abaris Books, 1977-)., nos. 332-356
