COSTUME
Character Costumes
CHARACTER COSTUMES REPRESENT an extreme form of the
clothed figure. A flamboyant territory, where sometimes
there just might not be anybody inside. Details and voices
are worn externally with great imagination. Fine examples
can be plucked from fashion, cartoon, theater, cinema,
and even formal portraiture.
Anthony Van Dyke's Man in Armor is a masterpiece of
drawn surface. The metal, cloth, lace, and feather were all
observed with closely crafted conviction. The slight
uncertainty of the pose and the limp cloak suggest a little
more metal than man. Opposite is a dangerous drawing, a
scurrilous cartoon by a courtier of Queen Elizabeth I. The
aged queen is compared to an overdressed bird, all ruffs
and wrinkles. It is presumed Her Royal Highness never
saw it, for she would not have been amused and William
Wodall might have been stretching his luck.
ANTHONY VAN DYKE
Flemish painter and draftsman. As a young man,
Van Dyke was chief assistant to Rubens for two
years, before traveling to Italy, where, through
numerous portrait and Church commissions, he
cooled and redefined his style. In 1632 he moved
permanently to London, and was employed as
court painter to 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
16x9^1 / 2 in (405 x 240 mm)
ANTHONY VAN DYKE