Hendrick Goltzius

An exciting rediscovery of a masterpiece by Hendrick Goltzius, a leading engraver and painter of the early northern Baroque, this impressive and richly detailed painting by illustrates a theme from Homer’s “Iliad” in which Juno, in order to influence the outcome of the Trojan War, seduces her husband Jupiter by borrowing Venus’s magic girdle which makes its wearer irresistible. The work is in a fine state of preservation, and cleaning not only revealed Goltzius’s brilliant colours and delicate highlights but also his monogram and the date, 1616, which have reappeared in the upper right corner. This painting, which is from the last year of the artist’s life, exemplifies his late manner which was influenced by his sojourn in Italy in 1591 and from contact with Pieter Paul Rubens during the Flemish master’s visit to Haarlem. These resulted in an innovative, classicizing style in direct contrast to the Mannerism of his early years as a printmaker.