Caesar Quintus Augustus

Hubertus Goltzius was a sixteenth-century artist, author, and numismatist based in Antwerp and Bruges. In “Icones Imperatorum,” he employed the chiaroscuro aesthetic to reproduce portraits of rulers drawn from ancient coins in private collections he visited while traveling throughout Europe. Goltzius’s volume was republished in 1645 and 1708 with updated woodcuts made by printmaker Christoffel Jegher, who is credited with revitalizing woodcut and chiaroscuro techniques into the 1640s. The portrait depicts Gaius Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus (Hostilian), who became joint Emperor of the ancient Roman Empire alongside Trebonianus Gallus in 251 AD.