The Marriage Scales 1590 - 1594

Hendrick Goltzius created "The Marriage Scales," a complex engraving, sometime before his death in 1617. In it, he critiques societal values, particularly the transactional nature of marriage during the 16th and 17th centuries. The artwork depicts a scale balancing a woman, seated with a chest of money, against a young man. Figures surround them, seemingly influencing the balance. This suggests the social pressures and economic considerations influencing marital decisions, rather than love. The presence of Cupid, disarmed, highlights the absence of genuine affection. Goltzius challenges the traditional representations of marriage as a union of love and virtue. By emphasizing wealth as the determining factor, the artwork critiques the era's patriarchal norms, where a woman's value was often tied to her dowry and social standing. The engraving poignantly reflects how economic imperatives could overshadow personal desires and emotional compatibility, reducing individuals to commodities within the marriage market.