The Large Hercules (bartsch 142; Hollstein 143; Strauss 283; New Hollstein 156)

Hendrick Goltzius's *The Large Hercules* (1589) is a tour de force of engraving, showcasing the Dutch master's extraordinary technical virtuosity through the powerfully muscular figure of the mythological hero rendered with breathtaking precision and swelling lines. This very fine impression, identified as Strauss's first state of two, captures the full richness of Goltzius's complex hatching and cross-hatching techniques, which were deliberately designed to demonstrate the expressive range of the burin. Printed on paper bearing a partially legible watermark possibly corresponding to a Crowned Coat of Arms with Dividers, this impression stands as a remarkable example of late sixteenth-century printmaking at its most ambitious and commanding.