Mishandeling van de zoon van de geleerde Hortensius door de Spanjaarden te Naarden, 1 december 1572 1788 - 1790

Jacobus Buys made this drawing, “Mishandeling van de zoon van de geleerde Hortensius door de Spanjaarden te Naarden, 1 december 1572,” with pen and gray ink and gray wash. The way Buys has worked with these humble materials actually underscores the brutality of the scene. We see the artist carefully rendering the reflective surfaces of the soldiers' armor, making the act of violence all the more cold and calculated. The grey palette intensifies the drama as the wash creates depth, heightening the grim nature of the event. Buys created this image some two centuries after the actual event it depicts. It is not reportage, but rather, a meditation on the long shadow of history. The contrast between the artist’s refined skill and the violent subject matter serves as a haunting reminder of the human capacity for cruelty. It also underscores the power of the drawing medium to convey such scenes with an economy of means.