Careers by Design (Bilingual edition): Hendrick Goltzius & Peter Paul Rubens

How do artists ensure that their works will still be known in later centuries? How do they reach a public that lies far away geographically? In around 1600 the answer was: via printed graphics. Hendrick Goltzius (1558â1617) and Peter Paul Rubens (1577â1640) show through their outstanding works how international success could be achieved in this way. Printed graphics are easy to reproduce and distribute, and so in around 1600 they became the perfect ambassadors for themselves in the diplomatic service of art.

By means of 160 masterly copperplate engravings this volume shows how innovative and strategically astute Goltzius and Rubens were in their use of this medium, in order to beguile the public, arouse desires and disseminate their own new artworks. In addition to their paintings, the engravings became sought-after collectorsâ items which played a decisive part in the promotion of the careers of both artists.