A musketeer holding his musket at "Shoulder Arms"
Series TitleThe Exercise of Arms for Calivres, Musquettes, and Pikes...
Artist
Jacob de Gheyn II
(Dutch, 1565 - 1629)
Dateca. 1608
MediumEngraving
DimensionsOverall: 10 5/16 × 7 3/8 inches (26.19 × 18.72 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object numberR56-3/2
On View
Not on viewCollections
Exhibition HistoryPossibly Architecture and Decorative Arts in Prints from the Permanent Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, March 13-April 10, 1983, no. 21, as Musketeer, 1607.
In the early 17th century the musket began to replace the pike as the most important battlefield weapon and so the artist has portrayed these musketeers as models of modern efficiency, in confident poses and quite richly clad. Nevertheless, these early muskets took a long time to load and their "matchlock" firing mechanism was unreliable in bad weather, since it could get damp and fail to work. Muskets were also very heavy and so both soldiers carry a stick which supported their weapons while being fired.
Possibly Architecture and Decorative Arts in Prints from the Permanent Collection, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1983), p. 4, as Musketeer, 1607.
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Master of the Die
n.d.
33-234
