Study for “The Siege of Gibraltar”: Figure Astride Cannon Pulling Down Spanish Colors

Description

In this Siege of Gibraltar study, John Singleton Copley depicts a figure straddling a long cannon and leaning forward across it. The action is identified as pulling down the Spanish colors, giving the outstretched body a specific place within the historical scene. Made in 1785–86, the drawing uses dark and pale marks on blue paper, with a grid helping relate the study to its intended pictorial arrangement.

The pose joins exertion with instability: the figure must reach and pull while supported by a narrow, difficult perch. Copley’s study makes that problem visually available without requiring the entire battle around it. The blue ground helps separate dark contours from pale highlights, giving the body both structure and movement. The sheet preserves the preparation of a charged historical gesture, showing how a complex action can be worked out through the arrangement of limbs and weight.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the John Singleton Copley collection.