Design for a Title Page: A General and His Army Looking at a Map.
late 17th century
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown and wash over black chalk, white gouache. Incised.
Dimensions
15 3/8 x 9 41/64 in. (39.1 x 24.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of János Scholz, 1953
Accession Number
53.669.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 17th century, Flemish artist Jan Antoine Coxie crafted this intricate *Design for a Title Page: A General and His Army Looking at a Map*, a preparatory drawing that captures the drama of military strategy. Depicting a commanding general surrounded by his soldiers—armed with spears and swords, intently studying a map—this work evokes the era's fascination with warfare, leadership, and conquest. Likely intended as a frontispiece for a printed book on military history or campaigns, it reflects the Baroque period's emphasis on grandeur and narrative power, where such title pages served...