Getty Museum
An Officer of the Rank of 'Oberster Feldprofoss' in the Imperial Army
Creator
Jost AmmanSwiss Artist · 1539–1591
All works by this person →A noted professor's son, the erudite Jost Amman chose printmaking over scholarship but always maintained contacts in humanist circles. He may have apprenticed in Basel or Zurich and probably also studied in Paris and Lyon. In 1561 Amman settled in Nuremberg, where he worked with Virgil Solis. After Solis's death in 1562, Amman began a lifelong partnership with Solis's publisher, adapting himself t
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1556
- Medium
- Pen and black ink, on paper toned with black chalk
- Culture
- Swiss
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 84e65d4e-3f42-4fb1-866b-57824c0f1ddb
In the 1500s, young artists practiced their drawing skills by copying the designs of more accomplished draftsmen. Jost Amman produced this image when he was only seventeen years old, carefully reproducing a print by his contemporary Virgil Solis. Although Amman painstakingly duplicated the line work of the original engraving, he changed various other features to display his own virtuosity more clearly. This drawing is far larger than the engraving, and Amman eliminated the background landscape to monumentalize the figure of the officer. The artist created texture and depth with only two techniques: fine vertical hatching and thick black outlines. Amman further enhanced the liveliness and sensuousness of the surface by preparing the paper with a pale dusting of black chalk in lines radiating from the figure.
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