Physical description
A fray between Turks and European soldiers in the foreground with trees on the right-hand side and a city in the background.
Place of Origin
Prague, Czech Republic (made)
Date
ca. 1715 (made)
Artist/maker
Bredael, Jan Pieter van, born 1683 - died 1735 (painter (artist))
Materials and Techniques
oil on oak panel
Marks and inscriptions
'Bredael'
Dimensions
Height: 23.5 cm unframed, Width: 33 cm
Object history note
Bequeathed by John M. Parsons, 1870
John Meeson Parsons (1798-1870), art collector, was born in Newport, Shropshire. He later settled in London, and became a member of the stock exchange. His interest in railways led to his election as an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1839, and he was director or chairman of two railway companies between 1843 and 1848. Much of his time however was spent collecting pictures and works of art. In his will he offered his collection of mostly German and Dutch schools to the National Gallery (which selected only three works) and to the Department of Science and Art at South Kensington, later the Victoria and Albert Museum. The South Kensington Museum acquired ninety-two oil paintings and forty-seven watercolours. A number of engravings were also left to the British Museum.
Historical significance: Jan Pieter van Bredael depicted a large number of battles scenes, especially showing scenes of the military campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy to which he was attached as a court painter. The small size of this painting and his companion piece, Cavalry engagement against the Turks with a church in the background (548-1870), is typical of the style of the Haarlem painter Philips Wourwerman (1619-1668) that produced many small cabinet pictures depicting generic battle scenes.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the Turks under Sultan Ahmet III were still trying to extend their empire westwards, although back in the mid-1680s they had failed to take Vienna in a famous siege. War was declared against Austria again in 1715, and in the following years Prince Eugene of Savoy fought a number of successful battles against them. Peace was signed in 1718 with the Treaty of Passarowitch, and Hungary was thereby liberated from Turkish rule. The Turks, although no longer led into battle by the Sultan in person, had stuck to their once formidable traditional methods of warfare. These became progressively less effective against forces led by modern generals such as Prince Eugene.
Comparative works by Jan Peter van Bredael such as the Battle of Petervardino and the Battle of belgrado can be found in the Kunsthisthorisches Museum of Vienna.
Historical context note
In Italy the classical tradition of battles scenes goes back to the Roman low-reliefs and mosaics such as the Victory of Alexander the Great on Darius in Pompeii, and persisted in medieval miniatures, in the 14th and 15th centuries' frescoes and in decorations on the Renaissance cassoni (i.e. wedding chests) up to such works as Pietro da Cortona's Victory of Alexander over Darius, 1635, Museo Capitolino, Rome, and Salvator Rosa's Battle Scene, 1652, Louvre, Paris). In the 17th century however, Aniello Falcone, perhaps the first Italian battle specialist, introduced a new category of small battle, the battle scene 'without a hero' (F. Saxl) and usually without a specific topic beyond a generalized study of cavalry skirmishes between generic Christians and exotically clad Saracens or Turks. This speciality was developed by Neapolitan artists such as Carlo Coppola, Andrea di Lione and Salvator Rosa and in Florence by Giacomo Cortese. In the Netherlands, following the recent episodes of war that marked the progressive independence of the Low Countries (Eighty Years' War 1568-1648), Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668) painted generic skirmishes and ambushes (using northern settings, clothing and weapons) and he concentrated on genre scenes of crowded camp life. Tapestries also allowed this genre to develop and were now used as official military art and formed high-class mass production. In Rome, the Bamboccianti, i.e. Netehrlandish followers of Pieter van Laer nicknamed Bamboccio, were particularly interested in this genre.
Descriptive line
Oil painting, Cavalry Engagement against Turks, with a distant view of a town, by Jan Pieter van Bredael, Prague, ca. 1715
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Kauffmann, C.M. Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 46-47, cat. no. 47
The following is the full text of the entry:
"Jan Pieter van BREDAEL (1683-1735)
Flemish School
Born at Antwerp, the son of the painter Joris van Bredael, he settled in Prague in 1706 to work for Prince Eugene, for whom he painted battle- and hunting-scenes. After returning to Antwerp in 1720 he was recalled by Prince Eugene to work in Vienna, where he lived until his death in 1735.
47
CAVALRY ENGAGEMENT AGAINST TURKS,
WITH A DISTANT VIEW OF A TOWN
Signed indistinctly lower right
..... Bredael
Oak panel
9ΒΌ x 13 (23.5 x 33)
547-1870
Companion piece to 548-1870 (no. 48). A label on the back bears the inscription in Parsons' hand: 'In the Dresden Catalogue 1857 are pictures by Jan Frans Bredael, pupil of Wouverman born 1683 at Amsterdam died 1751 at the same place. This picture is signed 'Bredael' at right hand corner and is by the same artist. In Bryant's dictionary a name is given John van Breda born Antwerp 1683 d. Antwerp 1750, no doubt the same person is meant in both cases. bt. of Watson 10th June 1856.'
However, although Jan Frans van Bredael (1686-1750) painted some battle scenes of this kind, these paintings are more like the work of Jan Pieter van Bredael, who specialized in depicting cavalry engagements. Apart from stylistic considerations, his authorship is attested by the Turkish costume of the dead, wounded and fleeing soldiers in both pictures: Jan Pieter was in Prague from 1706 painting battle pieces for Prince Eugene, including scenes of his victories over the Turks (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).
Prov. Bought by John Parsons from Watson in 1856; bequeathed to the Museum in 1870."
Labels and date
British Galleries:
TWO VIEWS OF CAVALRY ENGAGEMENTS AGAINST THE TURKS
Paintings of battle scenes had been popular since ancient times. This pair record events during the wars between the Turks and the Austrians in the first two decades of the 18th century. [27/03/2003]
Materials
Oil paint; Oak
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Soldiers; Battle; Warfare; Turks
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
