The Renaissance
by all his contemporaries, was composed of medals,
coins, carvings, and other objects of high antiquity.
Hubert (or Hugo) Goltius (or Goltz), was a painter,
engraver, numismatologist and historian. He was born
at Venlo in 1526 and died in 1583. He studied under
Lambert Lombard and was also influenced by Eras-
mus' friend, van Watervliet, who guided him in his
classic studies, Greek and Roman antiquities, etc.
Goltius visited all the great towns in Belgium, Hol-
land, Germany, France and Italy, in order to examine
the cabinets of collectors for material for his book on
coins. His itinerary reveals an astonishing number of
collectors of coins and medals.
Goltius made the decorations in Antwerp for the
fetes of the Golden Fleece. He was also appointed
historian to Philip II.
A marriage coffer of leather, designed by him, repre-
sented the King of Spain and Margaret of Austria stand-
ing beside the Fountain of Love.
The craze for medals, coins and curios during the
sixteenth century was widespread. We have seen that
the Regent had a coffer full of corals and various trifles.
To meet the demand for housing curios, the cabinet
was developed. This was usually a double chest, the
upper one smaller than the other. Both closed with
doors and contained drawers and shelves.
Like almost all the pieces of furniture called " cabin-
ets " of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the
one reproduced on Plate VIII is in two parts, the upper
being smaller than, and standing back on the top of,
the lower. It is carved in walnut wood, enriched with
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