École flamande, suiveur d'Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617): La circoncision du Christ, huile sur toile, 17ème siècle

Work: 148 x 118 cm
Frame: 162 x 131,5 cm

From the late 16th C. onwards, 'The circumcision of Christ' was depicted very frequently in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent, both on panels and on canvas. It was a popular subject for altarpieces and large devotional works in churches in the Southern Netherlands. Workshops and painters who created such large narrative scenes with many characters, elaborately detailed costumes and didactic or liturgical themes included the Antwerp school of Flemish Mannerists, the circles around Marten de Vos, Frans Francken I / II, Ambrosius Francken, Maerten Pepijn, Jeremias van Winghe, Hendrik van Balen, etc.  

Ref.:

- This composition taken from 'The Circumcision', from the series 'The Life of the Virgin' series by Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617): the series to which this engraving belongs is commonly known as Goltzius's Meisterstiche, or masterpiece—by analogy with the three famous Meisterstiche by his great predecessor Albrecht Dürer. In a remarkable demonstration of virtuosity in the series, Goltzius imitated the styles of various masters in compositions of his own invention. In this case, he looked to the composition of Dürer's woodcut 'Circumcision' from the series 'The Life of the Virgin', but created his new work in the engraving style of the great master. Goltzius's imitation of Dürer was so successful, his biographer van Mander recounted, that art lovers bought impressions as original works by Dürer. Goltzius, however, revealed his deception by including his own portrait among the crowd in the right background, a scene he set in the local Church of Saint Bavo in Haarlem (link).