Rare drawing by Pierre Puget (1620-1694), who primarily was a celebrated sculptor, architect, and engineer, and was also an exceptional draughtsman. Trained as a woodcarver in the shipyards of Marseilles, Puget later worked in Rome and Florence, assisting Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) on major decorative projects before returning to France. His distinguished career encompassed service at the courts of Nicolas Fouquet (1615-1680) and Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), and his sculptures, notably the Hercules, today in the Louvre, are regarded among the masterpieces of 17th-century French art.
The subject of the drawing is the Siege of Besançon (1674), during the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), when French troops under Louis XIV captured the city. Although panoramic siege scenes are most often associated with the visual propaganda of the kings campaigns, made by artists such as Adam Frans van der Meulen (1632-1690), this refined composition bears all the hallmarks of Pugets distinctive hand.
Executed with his characteristic combination of controlled penwork in two tones of ink, enriched with transparent grey washes. The vellum support, mounted on a wooden panel, is also typical of his working practice, known from a small group of related sheets. Subtle evidence of reworking, the erased outline of a walking figure in the foreground and minor adjustments to the legs of several horses, suggests that this is an original composition, not a copy after another artist.
With ("Puget") inscribed by an early hand on the reverse of the panel. Otherwise in very good condition. Cf. on Puget see: Lagrange, Pierre Puget: peintre, sculpteur, architecte, décorateur de vaisseaux, (1868).