Ontploffing van het kruitmagazijn te Maastricht, 21 december 1761 Possibly 1761 - 1801

Jacobus Buys’ “Ontploffing van het kruitmagazijn te Maastricht, 21 december 1761” depicts a dramatic scene of the explosion of the gunpowder magazine in Maastricht on December 21, 1761. The drawing, created in a grey-toned wash, captures the chaos of the event with figures running away from the blast and debris flying through the air. The artist was born in 1724 and died in 1801, so the drawing is likely to have been created sometime between these dates. It is currently on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.