Autumn; Study for an Engraving

Hendrick Goltzius

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the preliminary drawing for the third print in the series of seasons which Goltzius published around 1594. The strong pen and ink outlines and the tonal values indicated with wash were meant to guide the engraver, who was expected to translate the washes into patterns of burin lines. Jan Saenredam, who worked for Goltzius from around 1589 to 1601, was most likely the engraver of the print. Autumn is represented here by figures dressed in sixteenth-century garb. The wreath of vines on the head of the boy on the right, and the pointed ear of the man in the center (which is more pronounced in the final print), indicate that they are Bacchus, the ancient god of wine, and a satyr.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art