Artist: Nicolas Guérard I (about 1648-1719)
Title: Vaincre ou Mourir, L’homme de guerre
Date: 1694 (according to IFF)
School: French, XVIIth-century
Medium: etching with some engraving
Dimensions: 280 x 190mm (plate), 375 x 240mm (sheet)
Watermark: indistinct
Inscriptions/marks: in the plate lower left border <<N. Guérard inv et fecit>>, in the plate top centre <<VAINCRE OU MOURIR>>, in the plate lower border contre <<L’homme de guerre/Malgré les bombes et boulets/Le feu le sang et le carnage/L’homme de guerre à pour objets/De selever par son courage/jusqu’aux Emplois de Commandant/ou de perir Chemin faisant>>, in the plate lower border <<Se Vend à Paris chez N. Guerard Graveur rüe S.t Jacques à la Reyne du clergé proche St Yves. C.P.R.>>
Condition: Fine condition on laid paper with wide margins. Tiny pin prick upper centre in the image
Description: a gentleman, sword in hand, launches the attack, securing his hat, despite the bombs exploding all around him. On the right is a trench, each section of which marks a stage in military life, captain, colonel etc. to reach the “Goal of the Men of War”, this goal is symbolized by a general or a marshall galloping into the fray. From a series of at least 79 illustrating proverbs, IFF 45-137. See BM 2015,7041.1 for another in the series.
Reference: IFF, XVIIe siècle, vol. 5, Nicolas Guérard 132
