The Archer and the Milkmaid

Jacques de Gheyn II

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The well-bred artist Jacques de Gheyn treats the subject of milkmaids with more circumspection than is found in popular prints of the period. An archer with a bulging codpiece aims his crossbow right at the viewer, like Cupid hitting us between the eyes. The archer and his helpful companion (who wears his hat) reappear as lovers in the left background, where a stallion (presumably) ogles a mare. De Gheyn refers to slang expressions such as "milking" (see 41.1.24) and "shooting your bolt." The inscriptions were probably added by the publisher. The Latin verse lamely alludes to male anatomy while the Dutch text warns maidens of men with crossbows cocked.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art