Portrait Study of a Commander on Horseback Triumphing over Evil, and Crowned by Victory

This drawing records Van Dyck’s most ambitious equestrian portrait, though the painting it probably prepared never seems to have been executed. A young man, wearing armor and a billowing commander’s sash, tramples with his spirited horse the two personifications of evil, one of which is holding a bunch of snakes. The hero is crowned with laurels by the winged figure of Fame, possibly in reference to a specific military victory. The style and flamboyant composition situate the drawing firmly in Van Dyck’s Italian period. Mostly executed in brush over a sketch in black chalk (still visible in parts), the drawing is a masterly example of Van Dyck’s ability to convey form and intensity of light in a single stroke.