Standing Officer Holding a Boar's Spear
Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617)
1586
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, red chalk with traces of white opaque watercolor over black chalk, on paper; traces of transfer
- Classification
- Drawing
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 20.6 x 15.6 cm (8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.)
- Culture
- Netherlands, Haarlem, 16th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Drawings
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This sheet is the only known preparatory drawing for an important group of engravings depicting military figures designed by Hendrick Goltzius between 1582 and 1600. Here Goltzius depicted a military officer with a confident stance and direct gaze as he staunchly holds a spear in his right hand and carries his sword on his hip. Details such as the fluttering scarf and the feather-trimmed hat enliven the image. The background portrays the deeds of the protagonist, including a scene with troops on the right, and two other officers, perhaps shown training with spears, on the left. Such imagery usually promoted militaristic values such as bravery in the period, as the Netherlands underwent continuous warfare with Spain. Goltzius's technique includes fine pen strokes and delicate brown washes combined with red chalk additions on the face and hands, which add a degree of naturalism and finish to the drawing.
