Josina Hamels
Josina Hamels

Currently not on view

Josina Hamels,

1580

Hendrick Goltzius, 1558–1617; born Mülbracht, Netherlands; died Haarlem, Netherlands
x1934-655
Josina Hamels’s virtue is in her piety and her wifely submission to her husband. In the background of her portrait, the biblical narrative of Rebecca giving water to Isaac’s servant reinforces a wife’s duty to serve her husband. Peacocks—symbols of Juno, the goddess of marriage—and the inscription clearly situate Hamels’s identity in relation to her husband: "I am willing to follow you, whether the fatherland should call on you as a general in wartime, or as a citizen in time of peace, just like Rebecca or mother Sarah. This is the only law for a wife: to follow her husband."

Information

Title
Josina Hamels
Dates

1580

Maker
Hendrick Goltzius
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
plate (sheet trimmed inside plate): 19.6 × 12.5 cm (7 11/16 × 4 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Junius S. Morgan, Class of 1888
Object Number
x1934-655
Place Made

Europe, Netherlands, Haarlem

Inscription
Printed in margin around oval, two lines of Latin: SEQVI PARATA, SIVE TE BELLO DVCEM SEV PACE CIVEM POSTVLABIT PATRIA. REBECCA QVALIS, QVALIS AVT PARENS SARA HAC VNA LEX EST CONIVGI VIRVM SEQVI. Signed in cartouche, below oval center: HGoltzius, fecit. / 1589 In graphite, verso lower left: J.S.M (L.1536)
Reference Numbers
Bartsch 213; Hollstein 185; New Hollstein 217; Strauss 131
Culture
Dutch, European
Type
engravings, prints
Materials
printing ink
Techniques
engraving (printing process)
Subject
figures (representations), portraits, text, women, peacocks

Junius S. Morgan [1867-1932, Lugt 1536]; bequeathed to Princeton University Art Museum, 1932.

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