A soldier charging his musket, from the Musketeers series, plate 24, in Waffenhandlung von den Rören Musquetten undt Spiessen / Wapenhandelinghe van Roers Musquetten ende Spiessen (The Exercise of Arms)
Medium
Engraving; second state of three (New Hollstein)
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 1/2 × 7 3/8 in. (26.7 × 18.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.95.1177
Tags
Art Historical Context
This engraving, plate 24 from Jacques de Gheyn II’s influential 1608 manual *The Exercise of Arms*, captures a musketeer in the precise act of charging his weapon. Created in collaboration with engraver Robert Willez de Baudous, the print belongs to a comprehensive series illustrating every step of musket and pike handling for early modern soldiers. Published in Dutch, German, and French editions, the manual served as a practical training guide during a period of significant military reform in the Netherlands. De Gheyn’s detailed engravings helped standardize drill movements across European a...