6 - G. RUGENDAS (1666-1742), Nine Studies of Soldiers, around 1700, Pencil

G. RUGENDAS (1666-1742), Nine Studies of Soldiers, around 1700, Pencil Georg Philipp Rugendas (1666 Augsburg - 1742 ibid.): Nine Studies of Soldiers, c. 1700, Pencil Technique: Pencil on Paper Watermark: Partially visible. indeterminate signs: Undeterminable watermark | Date: Inscription: Upper left inscribed by another person: "ax". Date: c. 1700 Description: Georg Philipp Rugendas from Augsburg presents nine soldiers in various poses and performing a variety of tasks, carefully arranged next to each other in two rows of five and four soldiers. They stand with their legs apart, lean against a wall or have their rifles shouldered. These are delicate graphite studies of remarkable presence, which derive their significance from the fact that they are studies from nature. Rugendas, who in Augsburg - the city was occupied in 1703/04 - directly experienced the military conflicts during the War of the Spanish Succession, observed soldiers at work in the various camps. Rugendas' later biographer Johann Caspar Füssli reports that he "had the advantage" of "now seeing with his own eyes what had previously been merely idealised."The sheet impressively illustrates that it is a prerequisite for what Füssli described as "the ideal", which "gradually became an idea from the true visible of nature".The "true visibility of nature" is revealed in the studies that Rugendas used to prepare his paintings: "He made a large number of regular drawings based on real examples, which he often incorporated into his paintings," writes Füssli.The sheet belongs to a whole series of such "regular drawings" with depictions of soldiers, which are mainly in the art collections of the city of Augsburg, but also in Nuremberg, Washington and Sacramento. The Augsburg drawings are labelled "ax" at the top left, suggesting that they were once part of the same collection - probably the artist's estate. Our sheet also belongs to this group and is also labelled "ax" at the top left. The sheets served Rugendas as a kind of stock of ideas for his battle scenes and depictions of soldiers' lives; he used them for elaborate drawings, prints and paintings. For many of these studies, a link to paintings and prints has been established - although this has yet to be proven for the sheet on offer. The regularity in which the soldiers are arranged on the sheet also suggests a graphic realisation, which Rugendas had obviously already planned, but which was only tackled by his great-grandson Johann Lorenz Rugendas the Younger at the beginning of the 19th century: In two series - Etude des Attidudes et Postures de l'Homme and Zerschiedene Vorstellungen oder Actionen, Rugendas presented a total of eleven of his great-grandfather's sketch sheets in etchings. (Text: Peter Prange) Keywords: Soldiers, rifles, figure study, positions, emplacements, study sheet., 18th century, Baroque, Military, Germany, Size: Paper: 14,5 cm x 21,6 cm (5,7 x 8,5 in) Condition: Very good condition. Restored.