The Circumcision,

1594

A prolific engraver of extraordinary skill, Goltzius established his workshop in Haarlem, gaining international fame for his technical virtuosity and his imaginative interpretations of biblical and mythological subjects. Following a trip through Germany and Italy in 1590–91, Goltzius demonstrated his unparalleled skill with a burin in six monumental engravings illustrating the early life of the Virgin that brilliantly paraphrase the compositional and engraving styles of six masters of Renaissance printmaking. Goltzius modeled this Circumcision on Dürer’s woodcut of the same subject from his Life of the Virgin series. Unlike Raimondi’s engraved copy from the same series, Goltzius freely improvised on the German master’s example, setting the scene in a Haarlem chapel and including visual quotations from other famous Dürer engravings. The final effect was so convincing that contemporary collectors reportedly bought the print believing it to be a lost masterpiece by Dürer himself.