German Prisoner Type

This portrait study by William James Aylward documents a German prisoner of war during World War I. The mixed-media drawing on cardboard depicts a soldier in a military cap with a distinctive green ribbon, rendered with careful attention to facial features and expression. Created by the U.S. War Department, the work exemplifies the documentary and anthropological approach military illustrators employed during the conflict—producing visual records of combatants for military records and intelligence purposes. Aylward's technique combines watercolor and ink to capture physiognomic detail, reflecting early twentieth-century portrait conventions and the systematic visual cataloging practices of wartime administration.