Colonel

The print depicts an officer in elaborate 16th-century dress, featuring a massive ruffled collar, a plumed hat, and a decorative sash. He stands with his back partially turned while looking over his shoulder, holding a ceremonial polearm known as a partisan. In the distance, a sprawling landscape shows a city and soldiers engaged in a military skirmish.

This work is a quintessential example of Haarlem Mannerism, showcasing the 'Heroic' aesthetic and technical virtuosity of the circle around Hendrick Goltzius. While secular in subject, such figures were often interpreted through the lens of Neo-Stoicism and the concept of Fortitudo (Fortitude), which were central to the intellectual life of Dutch humanists and esoteric thinkers of the late 16th century.