Descrizione
Storia dell’Arte 140, Gennaio – Aprile 2015
Pilar Diez del Corral Corredoira
Hendrick Goltzius y Bartholomeo Spranger. Interpretaciones y lecturas de un proverbio latino
This article analyses the recurrence of the Latin proverb, “Sine Cerere et Libero, friget Venus”, in Hendrick Goltzius’ works of art. The number of times he depicted this aphorism during his lifetime is striking – at least twelve times documented – and speaks to his own perception as an artist. Traditionally, it was believed that Bartholomeus Spranger was the one who disseminated this topic in Mayor Arts, since he was the courtly painter of Rudolph II and because of his influence over Goltzius. This paper, however, offers an alternative view on the particular relationship between Spranger and Goltzius and how the latter was actually the driving force of this new fashionable topic.