1558-1617 Dutch Hendrik Goltzius (1558 - January 1, 1617), Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter, was born at Millebrecht, in the duchy of Julich. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, noted for his sophisticated technique. After studying painting on glass for some years under his father, he was taught the use of the burin by Dirk Volkertszoon Coornhert, a Dutch engraver of mediocre attainment, whom he soon surpassed, but who retained his services for his own advantage. He was also employed by Philip Galle to engrave a set of prints of the history of Lucretia. At the age of 21 he married a widow somewhat advanced in years, whose money enabled him to establish at Haarlem an independent business; but his unpleasant relations with her so affected his health that he found it advisable in 1590 to make a tour through Germany to Italy, where he acquired an intense admiration for the works of Michelangelo, which led him to emulate that master in the grotesqueness and extravagance of his designs. He returned to Haarlem considerably improved in health, and laboured there at his art till his death. Goltzius' painting Lot and his daughters (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) shows Lot being seduced by his two daughters. Sodom and Gomorrah are shown burning in the background, with Lot's wife who had turned into a pillar of salt, in front.Goltzius ought not to be judged chiefly by the works he valued most, his eccentric imitations of Michelangelo. His portraits, though mostly miniatures, are masterpieces of their kind, both on account of their exquisite finish, and as fine studies of individual character. Of his larger heads, the life-size portrait of himself is probably the most striking example. His masterpieces, so called from their being attempts to imitate the style of the old masters, have perhaps been overpraised. Goltzius brought to an unprecedented level the use of the "swelling line", where the burin is manipulated to make lines thicker or thinner to create a tonal effect from a distance. He also was a pioneer of "dot and lozenge" technique, where dots are placed in the middle of lozenge shaped spaces created by cross-hatching to further refine tonal shading. A self portraitHollstein credits 388 prints to him, with a further 574 by other printmakers after his designs. In his command of the burin Goltzius is said to rival that of Durer's; but his technical skill is not equally aided by higher artistic qualities. Even, however, his eccentricities and extravagances are greatly counterbalanced by the beauty and freedom of his execution. He made engravings of Bartholomeus Spranger's paintings, thus increasing the fame of the latter - and his own. Goltzius began painting at the age of forty-two; some of his paintings can be found in the imperial collection at Vienna. He also executed a few chiaroscuro woodcuts. He was the stepfather of engraver Jacob Matham.  Related Paintings of Hendrick Goltzius :. | Jupiter und Antiope | Jupiter and Antiope | Venus and Adonis. | Job in Distress | Mercury |
Related Artists:
Henry Leonidas Rolfe
British,active 1847-81
ulrika eleonora
Ulrika Eleonora d.y., född 23 januari 1688, död 24 november 1741, var regerande drottning av Sverige 1719-1720, dotter till Karl XI och Ulrika Eleonora av Danmark, syster till Karl XII samt kusin till August den starke, Fredrik IV av Danmark och Fredrik IV av Holstein-Gottorp. Hon gifte sig 24 mars 1715 med Fredrik av Hessen, den blivande Fredrik I, men förblev barnlös. Ulrika Eleonora föddes den 23 januari 1688 på Stockholms slott som dotter till kung Karl XI och Ulrika Eleonora d.ä. Under barndomen förbisågs hon av alla för sin äldre, livligare och mera begåvade syster Hedvig Sofia. Så snart hon blivit giftasvuxen fick hon många friare, bland andra blivande Georg II av Storbritannien och arvprins Fredrik av Hessen-Kassel. Redan 1710 begärde denne hennes hand, men deras trolovning tillkännagavs inte förrän den 23 januari 1714. Bilägret firades den 24 mars 1715. Under Karl XII:s vistelse utomlands var hon, efter Hedvig Sofias död (1708), den enda myndiga medlemmen av kungahuset inom riket om man borträknar hennes åldriga farmor (Hedvig Eleonora). I slutet av 1712 eller början av 1713 hade Karl XII tankar om att göra sin syster Ulrika Eleonora till regent, men fullföljde inte denna plan. Det kungliga rådet däremot övertalade henne att bevista dess sammanträden för att i henne erhålla ett stöd. Första gången hon infann sig i rådet, 2 november 1713, beslöts också om sammankallande av en riksdag. Det s.k. rörelsepartiet vid denna riksdag ville att prinsessan i kungens frånvaro skulle göras till riksföreståndarinna "såsom närmaste arvinge till kronan och regementet". Detta förslag motarbetades av Arvid Horn och rådet, som fruktade att svårigheterna för en ändring av regeringssättet därigenom skulle ökas. Prinsessan visade emellertid ständerna stort intresse för landets angelägenheter. I sina brev till kungen uppmanade hon honom att återvända hem och varnade honom för möjliga följder av hans frånvaro. Med hans samtycke undertecknade hon under den följande tiden alla rådets skrivelser, utom dem som var ställda till honom, för i sin egenskap av vice regent var hon ett med kungen enligt dennes uppfattning. Mera sällan deltog hon i rådets förhandlingar.
Thomas Ruckle
was a house painter and sign painter in early nineteenth century Baltimore, Maryland, and an amateur painter. He is best known for his paintings The Battle of North Point, and The Defense of Baltimore. Ruckle was a veteran of the War of 1812, in which he had served as a corporal in the 5th Maryland Regiment of the Maryland Militia. Ruckle was born in Ireland and, having moved to Baltimore, Maryland, he became a sign painter and house painter. It is likely that he had very little, if any, formal training as an artist.