Man Lighting a Rocket, also called Peace is Better than a Victory, from Communia Gaudia (The Wide-Spread Rejoicing at the Siege of Namur)
1695
Medium
Mezzotint in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 24.7 × 17.9 cm (9 3/4 × 7 1/16 in.); Sheet: 24.8 × 18 cm (9 13/16 × 7 1/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
107837
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Cornelis Dusart made a series of seven prints documenting the jubilation that erupted after King William III of England reclaimed the city of Namur from France on September 2, 1695. The pyrotechnician on the left (1964.46) has a full arsenal of rockets secured to his belt while the woman on the right (1964.47) prepares to launch a firework. At her side are a bottle of alcohol, a pipe, and a drinking horn to fuel her gaiety; the keys symbolize her renewed sense of security. The mezzotint medium i...
About the Artist
Cornelis Dusart · 1660–1704
Cornelis Dusart (1660–1704) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and printmaker who stands as one of the most important continuators of the peasant genre tradition established by Adriaen van Ostade in Haarlem. Born in Haarlem, Dusart entered Van Ostade's workshop as a pupil and assistant, a relationship that proved formative in every respect. He so thoroughly absorbed his master's approach — the depi...