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Hendrick Goltzius

The Circumcision, plate four from The Birth and Early Life of Christ

1594
Engraving on off-white laid paper

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This celebrated print belongs to the Life of the Virgin series. Goltzius's composition and method of using burin is deceptively close to that of Albrecht Dürer. Although Goltzius succeeded in capturing Dürer's style, he also imposed his own ideas and settings. The artist set the scene in an exact rendering of a chapel of St. Bravo's Church in Haarlem. The artist also portrayed himself standing in the arched doorway in the background, gazing out at the viewer. This is the earliest extant portrait of the artist.

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