Allegory of Rome, title plate from The Roman Heroes
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 36.7 × 23.4 cm (14 1/2 × 9 1/4 in.)
Classification
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
264855
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This engraving is from a series of ten prints depicting heroes from ancient Roman history. In this allegorical title plate, the Haarlem engraver Hendrick Goltzius dedicated the series to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, framing him, a modern ruler, as the heir of ancient Roman valor. The bulging bodies and fanciful costumes in the imaginary portraits are characteristic of Goltzius’s style, which emulated and exaggerated the dynamic poses and muscular forms of ancient sculpture.
About the Artist
Hendrick Goltzius · 1558–1617
Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) was the most celebrated engraver of the Northern Renaissance and a pivotal figure in Dutch Mannerism. Born near the German-Dutch border, Goltzius transformed printmaking into a virtuoso art form through his revolutionary 'swelling line' technique, where the burin was manipulated to create lines of varying thickness that produced unprecedented tonal effects and three-d...