Figures in Gunpowder Plot

Unknown 19th Century

1850

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From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Romanticism Early 19th Century

About this work

This black-and-white engraving shows a tight crowd of men wearing old-fashioned hats and coats. Their faces are close together, some smiling, others looking serious. One man holds a lit torch, and the names of seven men are written above their heads. The names match the Gunpowder Plot, a real 17th-century conspiracy. This later engraving turns history into drama, using shadows and lines to make the scene feel alive. Want to see how artists used lines to create drama? Look up cross-hatching.