The One to Whom Fortune Is Playing Will Dance Merrily from Six Sayings about Fortune
ca. 1560
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Plate: 8 1/8 × 9 11/16 in. (20.7 × 24.6 cm) Sheet: 11 1/4 × 13 1/4 in. (28.6 × 33.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Barbara and Howard Fox and Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Elkind Gifts, 2013
Accession Number
2013.118.4
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Dirck Volckert Coornhert's *The One to Whom Fortune Playing Will Dance Merrily is a captivating engraving from around 1560, part of his series *Six Sayings about Fortune This Dutch artist and humanist thinker, active in the vibrant Antwerp printmaking scene, used engravings to explore moral and philosophical themes, drawing from Renaissance emblem traditions. The plate measures 8 1/8 9 11/16 inches, with a larger size that highlights the precision of 16th-century print techniques, allowing for detailed dissemination of ideas across Europe. The title evokes a lively allegorical scene where Fortune—often depicted as a capricious goddess—plays music (suggested by violin motifs) for a joyful dancer, surrounded by men and female nudes. These elements underscore the artwork's playful yet cautionary message about fortune's fleeting favors, blending sensuality with moral reflection typical of Northern Renaissance prints. Coornhert's fine lines and intricate compositions made engravings like this affordable luxury items, educating viewers on life's unpredictability. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (acquired through generous gifts in 2013), this work exemplifies how prints bridged art and philosophy during a time of religious upheaval and humanism's rise, inviting us to ponder fortune's tune in our own lives.