1656
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Castle under Siege is a 1656 ink by Israël Silvestre, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a castle on a hill with tall towers and spires, drawn in quick, rough lines. Below it, a group of soldiers and horses move across a flat area, while people in the distance seem to be fleeing or watching. The sky is lightly marked with wavy strokes, and the whole scene feels hurried and uneven. The artist used a lot of tiny parallel lines to build up dark areas—this is called *cross-hatching*. It gives the drawing texture without needing heavy shading. Check out cross-hatching to see how artists create depth with just lines.
Israel Silvestre (13 August 1621 in Nancy – 11 October 1691 in Paris), called the Younger to distinguish him from his father, was a prolific French draftsman, etcher and print dealer who specialized in topographical views and perspectives of famous buildings.
See the richer artist page
![Landscape with a Lake [top plate]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/e7bf3d066d3912a6/thumb.webp)
