America / 1812
A Hussar Officer on Horseback
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs A Hussar Officer on Horseback as drawing (America · 1812).
The soldier wears a heavy military headdress called a “busby,” originally worn by Hungarian hussars and adopted by American hussar (light cavalry) regiments during the 1800s.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this drawing as black and white chalk and credits John Singleton Copley (American, born The Thirteen Colonies, 1738–1815).
The museum's collection notes: John Singleton Copley left Boston at the start of the American Revolution in 1775 to pursue his career in England, where he achieved distinction both as a portraitist and a history painter. Following a method often employed in France, Copley generally drew on blue paper to serve as a middle tone, working up the image using black chalk to indicate outlines and shadows, and white chalk for highlights. He made this drawing as an early study for the figure of the prince of Orange in his last major history painting, Battle of the Pyrenees (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), in 1812–15. The figure is garbed in the uniform of a “hussar,” a light cavalry
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtA Hussar Officer on HorsebackOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.