Portret van een man met een hoed

This engraving presents a bust-length study of a man with a prominent nose and light stubble, his gaze directed off-camera. The artist employs a complex system of swelling and tapering lines to give the face and fur collar a tangible, sculptural quality. The simple grid background focuses the viewer's attention entirely on the psychological character and physical presence of the subject.

Hendrick Goltzius was the primary figure of the Haarlem Mannerists, a circle that sought to elevate the status of the artist to that of a philosopher-creator. This print demonstrates his mastery of stylistic 'imitation'—specifically of the technique of Lucas van Leyden—as a means of honoring the intellectual and artistic lineage of the Northern Renaissance.