The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

The Great Hercules or 'Knollenman'

The Great Hercules or 'Knollenman'

1589
(Dutch, 1558–1617)
Netherlands, 16th century
engraving
Sheet: 56.3 x 40.1 cm (22 3/16 x 15 13/16 in.); Image: 54.2 x 40 cm (21 5/16 x 15 3/4 in.)
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1995.38
Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein 143 (VIII); New Hollstein XXIV.pt. 1.257.156, state I/II
Location: not on view

Description

The exaggerated and unnatural musculature of this figure may suggest that the Netherlandish artist Hendrick Goltzius had never studied a real human body. Indeed, he pulled from a mixture of sources including classical sculpture, Italian art, and his imagination. Goltzius ushered in Mannerism in Northern Europe, a style that featured exaggerated forms and metaphorical and allegorical subject matter. Known for his skill with an engraving burin, he transformed the technique, creating engraved lines that taper and swell to emphasize volume and form to extreme effect.
  • purchased from Hill-Stone, New York
  • A Lasting Impression: Gifts of the Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-September 22, 2019).
    From Rembrandt to Rauschenberg: Recently Acquired Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17-November 26, 2000).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; September 17 - November 26, 2000. "From Rembrandt to Rauschenberg: Recently Acquired Prints."
    Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 3-October 26, 1997).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 8/3/97 - 10/26/97. "Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620."
  • {{cite web|title=The Great Hercules or 'Knollenman'|url=false|author=Hendrick Goltzius|year=1589|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.38