An Itinerant

Marcellus Laroon the Elder

1670–1702 · Pen and brown ink · Drawings and Prints

Laroon came to London from The Hague in 1674 and established himself as a studio assistant to Sir Godfrey Kneller. Working independently, he also painted portraits and drew vivid genre subjects whose unsentimental approach to everyday life anticipates William Hogarth. This small figure drawing on card likely once belonged to a large set and its style echoes engravings Laroon designed in 1687 titled "The Cryes of the City of London Drawne after the Life." Rather than an urban street vendor, however, this shows an itinerant, perhaps a decommissioned soldier with a drinking cup slung from his belt, leaning on a staff, with his hand in a sling.

Artist

Marcellus Laroon the Elder

Date

1670–1702

Medium

Pen and brown ink

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2009