William, Count of Nassau, Prince of Orange

1581

Hendrik Goltzius

Associated Names
Hendrick Goltzius

Artist, Dutch, 1558 - 1617

Hendrik Hondius I

Publisher, Dutch, 1573 - 1649 or after

The image depicts an upper-body portrait of a man standing in a three-quarter view. He is dressed in ornate armor with intricate designs, including a breastplate and pauldrons, and a ruffled collar typical of the period. His facial features include a short beard and a mustache, with curly hair surrounding a high forehead. The man holds a baton in one hand while the other rests on the hilt of a sword. Beside him on the ground is a plumed helmet. Surrounding the portrait is a decorative frame filled with floral motifs and symbolic imagery, including various mythical and allegorical figures. Above the main portrait is a small crest with words and illustrations. The background is filled with text and more illustrative panels.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to platemark): 27.1 × 18.6 cm (10 11/16 × 7 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1950.14.1232

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein 1996, no. 261, State ii/ii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

W. B. Dukes [d. 1942], London, (L.2757a); (Sotheby, London, sale July 8, 1942, no. 112); Hermann Marx [d. 1948], Surrey, (L.2816a); (Sotheby, London, sale May 24, 1948, no. 165); Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891 - 1979], Philadelphia, (L.1932d); gift to NGA, 1950.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1921

  • Hirschmann, Otto. Verzeichnis des graphischen Werks von Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617) mit Benutzung der durch E.W. Moest hinterlassenen Notizen zusammengestellt. Leipzig: Verlag von Klinkhardt und Biermann, 1921. Reprint. Braunschweig: Klinkhardt &Bie

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1996-: no. 261, ii/ii.

Inscriptions

in small cartouche below portrait, in plate: H.Goltzius fecit.; on border of small cartouche below portrait, in plate: Hh ex.; in border around portrait: GUILELM D.G. PR. AVRAICAE. COMES. NASSAUIAE. AET. AN. XLVIII. A. (I)LXXXI.; at top, in border around coat of arms, in plate: IE MAINTIENDRAY; in cartouche at bottom, in plate: Impia vis fremat: Haec animo cura una sedebit, / Intrepida Rex Christe manu (dum vita superstes) / Rite tuam ut possim per dura pericula, legem, / Commissumque gregem, et patriae pia iura tueri. (The violent godless must tremble. This one care occupies me, Lord Christ, that so long as I live, undaunted by the arduous dangers, I can protect Thy law, the flock entrusted to me, and the sacred privileges of the fatherland.); under vignette at upper left, in plate: Hac uce clarescit mihi nox. (The night is illuminated for me by this light.); under vignette at upper right, in plate: Hac protegor umbra. (I am protected by this shadow.); under vignette at lower right, in plate: Saevis tranquillus in undis. (Calm amidst the raging seas.); under vignette at lower left, in plate: Haec mandata sequar. (I shall follow these commandments.)
[Latin translations from Leeflang, Huigen, and Ger Luijten. Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617): Drawings, Prints and Paintings. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2003, p. 67.]

Wikidata ID

Q65356293

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