Portret van een vrouw 1581 - 1585

This is Hendrick Goltzius’s ‘Portrait of a Woman,’ made as an engraving. The tight composition, framed within an oval, immediately draws your eye to the sitter's face. Goltzius’s masterful use of line to construct form and texture creates a remarkable visual complexity. The intricate detailing of the clothing—the ruff, the patterned sleeves—contrasts with the smoother rendering of the face, which is what brings the sitter to life. The gaze, slightly averted, adds a psychological dimension. The inscription around the oval, rendered in elegant script, speaks to the transience of beauty. Here, the formal elements work to engage with philosophical ideas about time, beauty, and mortality that were prevalent in the 16th century. The portrait becomes a meditation on the ephemeral nature of existence, capturing a moment in time while reminding us of its inevitable passage.