Artwork
The Scales of Marriage
The Scales of Marriage is an ink print by the Renaissance artist Hendrick Goltzius. It dates from 1592 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left, in image, in plate: 2; below image, in plate: Non Amor, aut virtus, sed dos [a]equata bilance / Coniugium stabilit, cedant duo fulmina belli, / In castrisq[ue] Syphax victus, Carthagoq[ue] migret; / Nil facit ad loculos, non implet scrinia Fama. Si proauos numeres, sis vel Iove natus ab ipso, / Ito foras, nisi te locupletet onustior arca, Auripotensq[ue] suo f[a]ecundet munere Plutus. / Nummi gratus odor: Pietasq[ue], Fidesq[ue] valete. (Neither love nor courage, but a balanced dowry ensures a stable marriage; away with the two bolts of war, let Syphax move from Carthage after a life in the camp. A good name adds nothing to the coffer, nor stock the shelves. If you come from an important family, even were you a son of Jupiter himself, got out into the world, and if you are not so rich and do not have a full coffer, let wealthy Plutus enrich you with his gifts. The scent of money beckons you: do away with Loyalty and Faith.); below plate, in letterpress: De Lifd' eylaes heeft nu den sack ghecreghen, / D'ouders weghen, haer dochter in balance, / Heeft den Vrijer soo veel goeets niet daerteghen, / Het houwelijck is af, hy moet van den dance. (True love, God wat, is quite & clean forlorn when Parents Daughters in the ballance weigh, Let one bee ner'e soe good and nobly born, If hee want cash then all will say him nay.) [translations by Jan Bloemendal in _The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700_. (Karel van Mander, Marjolein Leesberg, author). Rotterdam: Sound & Vision Interactive, 1999, no. 96, p. lxxv.]
About this work
Overview
Created circa 1592, The Scales of Marriage is an engraving combined with letterpress on laid paper by Hendrick Goltzius, a German‑born artist who worked in the Dutch Republic. The print belongs to the early Baroque or Northern Mannerist period and exemplifies Goltzius’s reputation for technical precision and inventive composition.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a courtyard scene in which a man and a woman sit on opposite pans of a large balance scale. The man’s pan is empty, while the woman’s holds an assortment of objects, suggesting an allegorical comparison of marital contributions. A cherubic figure on the right holds a hook that appears to influence the scale’s movement, adding a mythic or moralizing element to the tableau.
Technique & Style
Goltzius employs fine cross‑hatching and varied line work to render texture, depth, and the intricate details of Renaissance‑style dress and architectural background. The use of letterpress alongside the engraving allows for textual or decorative elements to be integrated directly into the image, a hallmark of his sophisticated printmaking practice.
History & Provenance
The work was produced during Goltzius’s early career, when he was establishing himself as the pre‑eminent Dutch engraver before later turning to painting. It reflects the artist’s mastery of the medium that secured his reputation across Europe in the late sixteenth century.
Context
The print aligns with Northern Mannerist tendencies toward complex allegory and exaggerated poses, while also anticipating the more naturalistic concerns of the Baroque. Its Renaissance costume and architectural setting situate the scene within a learned, classical framework popular among educated patrons of the period.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Hendrick Goltzius (German: , Dutch: ; né Goltz; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter.
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