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COSTUME158
Character Costumes
CHARACTER COSTUMES REPRESENT an extreme form of the observed with closely crafted conviction. The slight
clothed figure. A flamboyant territory, where sometimes uncertainty of the pose and the limp cloak suggest a little
there just might not be anybody inside. Details and voices more metal than man. Opposite is a dangerous drawing, a
are worn externally with great imagination. Fine examples scurrilous cartoon by a courtier of Queen Elizabeth I. The
can be plucked from fashion, cartoon, theater, cinema, aged queen is compared to an overdressed bird, all ruffs
and even formal portraiture. and wrinkles. It is presumed Her Royal Highness never
saw it, for she would not have been amused and William
Anthony Van Dyke's Man in Armor is a masterpiece of Wodall might have been stretching his luck.
drawn surface. The metal, cloth, lace, and feather were all
ANTHONY VAN DYKE
Flemish painter and draftsman. As a young man,
Van Dyke was chief assistant t o Rubens for t w o
years, before traveling t o Italy, where, through
numerous portrait and Church commissions, he
cooled and redefined his style. In 1632 he m o v e d
p e r m a n e n t l y t o London, and was e m p l o y e d as
c o u r t painter t o King Charles I.
Pen and wash In the graphic accuracy of this armored
knight we see the idealized identity of a warrior from
another time: a gleaming defender of the realm. He has
been rendered on this olive<olored page with pen and
gray wash worked over a red and black under-drawing.
Flowing scarf The knight's scarf of gilded blue is drawn
in a pale wash over red ink lines. Its warm surface flows in
contrast to the stiff metal armor. Its color is also reflected
in the metal.
Leg section Compare the section of white boots cropped
mid-shin to the section of similarly cropped trousers in
Gruau's drawing on p. 160. Leg sections in both drawings
support the figure without taking our attention away from
the main garment above.
Man in Armor
UNDATED
1 6 x 9 1 / 2 in (405 x 2 4 0 m m )
A N T H O N Y V A N DYKE
