# The Wedding of Cupid and Psyche

**Hendrick Goltzius** (Dutch, 1558–1617)  
1587  
Engraving on three joined sheets of ivory laid paper  
Sheet: 42.8 × 85.1 cm (16 7/8 × 33 9/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2023.1261. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/268822).

## About this work

The gods of Olympus crowd a banquet among the clouds to celebrate the marriage of Cupid and Psyche, the mortal who won immortality through love. Hendrick Goltzius engraved the vast composition in 1587 after a design by Bartholomeus Spranger, court painter to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, printing it from three plates on sheets joined into one. The twisting, elongated bodies and swelling lines are hallmarks of Haarlem Mannerism, and the print carried Spranger’s inventions far beyond the imperial court.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Hendrick Goltzius made this in 1587, aged 29. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of engraving on three joined sheets of ivory laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Engraving.** Lines cut directly into a metal plate with a steel burin, which makes them swell and taper. It took years to master, and for centuries it was how paintings travelled as pictures.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Hendrick Goltzius](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/hendrick-goltzius)

Dutch, 1558–1617; born in Mühlbracht; died in Haarlem

Goltzius was the outstanding Dutch engraver of his generation, despite a childhood injury that crippled his right hand. In Haarlem he joined Karel van Mander and Cornelis van Haarlem in promoting the muscular Mannerist style of Bartholomeus Spranger, engraving swelling, tapering lines of great virtuosity. A journey to Italy in 1590–91 turned him towards classical sculpture, as in his engravings of the Apollo Belvedere, and around 1600 he gave up engraving for painting.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: Netherlands
- The artist was 29
- Real size: about 17 × 33 in (42 × 85 cm). The 24 × 36 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 16th century
- Movement: [Dutch Golden Age](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/dutch-golden-age)
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/426.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/426/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-wedding-of-cupid-and-psyche-aic-268822).