The Circumcision

Created in the manner of the great German printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), this engraving was the culmination of Goltzius's exercise in emulating the work of others. Taken from Dürer's woodcut of the same subject, Goltzius succeeded in capturing both the technical brilliance and unique style of the Nuremberg master, yet cleverly imposed his own ideas and settings. In fact, the scene is actually set in a chapel of St. Bavo's Church in Haarlem. The figure standing in the arched doorway in the background gazing at the viewer is Goltzius himself, the earliest known self-portrait of the artist.