A Soldier Loading a Musket, "Ramme in Your Pouder"
1596/98
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, and traces of black chalk on ivory laid paper, incised for transfer
Dimensions
26.7 × 18.4 cm (10 9/16 × 7 1/4 in.)
Classification
drawings (visual works)
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
243884
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Jacques de Gheyn produced over 100 drawings for a groundbreaking 1607 Dutch military manual The Exercise of Arms. The drawings, a series of images that capture precise military maneuvers and show the appropriate tackle for each type of soldier, were then engraved for publication. For A Soldier Loading a Musket, de Gheyn drew the figure clearly and confidently with thin brown lines, adding gray wash to suggest volume and texture. This clarity was necessary for the engraver who would copy it onto...
About the Artist
Jacques de Gheyn, II · 1565–1629
Jacques de Gheyn II (1565–1629) was born in Antwerp into an artistic family, receiving his earliest instruction from his father, Jacob de Gheyn I, a skilled glass painter, engraver, and draftsman. In 1585, the young de Gheyn moved to Haarlem, where he spent five formative years studying under Hendrik Goltzius, one of the most celebrated engravers of the Northern Renaissance. This apprenticeship pr...