He followed his mentor Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert to Haarlem, where, along with Karel van Mander and Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem, he introduced the Mannerist painting style of Bartholomäus Spranger to the Netherlands. Typical features of Mannerist paintings include muscular bodies, contorted poses, proportionally small heads, and complex compositions. Goltzius visited Italy in 1590-91 and was inspired by the Italian masters. Upon his return to the Netherlands, he abandoned Mannerism to explore a more classicist style using classical proportions. His technically complex engravings were particularly admired throughout Europe. The broad range of Goltzius’s oeuvre offers an excellent reflection of the developments in Dutch painting around 1600.
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