Plate 3: the charge is ordered
1635–60
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Plate: 4 9/16 × 6 9/16 in. (11.6 × 16.6 cm) Sheet: 7 5/8 × 9 3/4 in. (19.3 × 24.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Carl J. Ulmann, 1929
Accession Number
29.38.21
Art Historical Context
**Plate 3: The Charge Ordered** by Jacques Cour (1621–1676), a masterful etching from around 1635–60, captures the electrifying tension of a battlefield command. Part of a series, this print depicts officers rallying cavalry for a thunderous charge, with swirling horses, rearing mounts, and determined riders frozen in dramatic motion. Courtois, known as *il Borgognone*, was a Flemish-Italian Baroque artist renowned for his vivid battle scenes, blending Flemish precision with Italian dynamism. Created through etching—a technique where acid etches intricate lines into a copper plate—this modest...
About the Artist
Jacques Courtois · 1621–1676
A specialist in battle paintings, he also painted religious and other scenes. As a teenager, Courtois left France for Italy with his young brother, Guillaume. He drew military campaigns, then studied in Bologna, Florence, and Siena, arriving in Rome by 1638. He worked primarily in Italy. He joined the Jesuit order in 1657.