Obdura

This small oval engraving depicts the artist in a three-quarter view, wearing a high ruff collar and a decorated doublet. He is shown with a short, trimmed beard and an alert expression, set against a minimal landscape background with trees and distant buildings. The portrait is framed by a border containing a Latin inscription and the artist's personal motto.

This work features Goltzius's personal Stoic motto 'Obdura' (Endure), reflecting the philosophical discipline that characterized his approach to art and life. As the central figure of the Haarlem Mannerists, Goltzius's technical mastery and intellectual interests linked the Northern Renaissance to the broader European tradition of Neoplatonism and Hermeticism.