Woman Lighting a Rocket, also called Peace Gets Me Going, 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 × 18 cm (9 3/4 × 7 1/8 in.); Sheet: 24.1 × 18.2 cm (9 1/2 × 7 3/16 in.)
Classification
mezzotint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111251
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The mezzotint medium is particularly effective in this and a related print by Cornelis Dusart, in which the high level of contrast emphasizes the presence of fiery light. To the left of the woman, flames engulf a wooden wheel; and to the right, townspeople gather in celebration. The man in a related image has several more rockets secured in his belt, ready to be lit (1964.46). These pyrotechnics celebrated King William III’s reclamation of the city of Namaur from the French, who had previously b...
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...