La Circoncision (Bartsch 18), GDUT5362

The scene takes place in a detailed, vaulted interior modeled after St. Bavo's Cathedral in Haarlem, featuring a massive ornate chandelier. A priest in heavy, hooded robes holds the child while a second figure performs the rite, watched closely by a crowd of figures in contemporary and biblical attire. The artist, Hendrick Goltzius, included his own likeness as the man on the far right edge looking toward the viewer.

This print is part of Goltzius’s 'Masterpieces' series, created to demonstrate his 'protean' ability to perfectly mimic the styles of earlier masters—in this case, Albrecht Dürer. This concept of the artist as a shape-shifter or 'Proteus' was central to Renaissance Neoplatonic theories regarding the divine nature of human creativity and the soul’s ability to reflect the entire cosmos.