Soldaten bij een herme van Mercurius 1656 - 1717

"Soldaten bij een herme van Mercurius" (Soldiers by a Herm of Mercury), a 17th-century etching by Nicolaes Cornelisz. Witsen, depicts a scene of military activity. In the foreground, soldiers prepare to fire cannons, while a larger-than-life statue of the Roman god Mercury stands in the background. The intricate details of the etching highlight the artist’s attention to realism and create a sense of immediacy. The work, now housed in the Rijksmuseum, demonstrates Witsen’s mastery of the etching technique, which he used to capture the dynamism of military life in the Dutch Golden Age.