Christ, St. Paul, and the Twelve Apostles

Each engraving features a monumental figure of an apostle or saint in the foreground, identified by their traditional iconographic attributes. In the background, smaller narrative scenes depict the miraculous deeds and the specific, often violent, methods of martyrdom each figure suffered. The series is characterized by the swelling line work and muscular anatomy typical of late sixteenth-century Dutch Mannerism.

Hendrick Goltzius was the leading figure of the Haarlem Mannerists, a circle whose interest in complex allegory and technical virtuosity deeply influenced the visual culture of the Western esoteric tradition. While religious in theme, these engravings represent the high-water mark of the 'Esoteric Engravers' whose mastery of the burin allowed for the later visualization of complex Hermetic and alchemical concepts in the 17th century.