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Cavalry battle

Maker

Attributed to

1662-1701

Formerly attributed to
Gabriel Weyer (artist)
1576-1632

Title

Cavalry battle

Medium

black wash and white bodycolour on blue-prepared paper, with black ink framing lines (the blue pigment used was indigotin)

Dimensions

Height: 19.9 cm
Width: 30.6 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1827

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The blue background here was formed by brushing opaque indigo watercolour across a sheet of white paper. The resulting hue is much darker than that achieved with paper made from blue rags. The figures’ faces are cast in black shadows by the wash, contributing to the sense of chaos and horror in the fray. The white highlights contrast forcefully with the dark blue wash, the soldiers and their horses appearing like ghostly spectres in a nighttime battle.

Provenance

Richeton; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawn to Blue: Artists' use of Blue Paper, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/10/2024-26/01/2025

Literature

Trümper, Timo, Der Hamburger Maler und Zeichner Jacob Weyer (1623-1670), Petersberg, 2012
no. ZD40 and pp. 140 under ZD38, 141 under ZD39
rejected as by Jacob Weyer, attributed to Johann Joachim Pfeiffer the Elder

Inscriptions

Watermark: none.

Inscription: Verso: upper left, graphite: “352 Chool”; upper right corner, graphite: “6”; right of centre, graphite: “25”; lower centre, red chalk: “H”; left lower edge, graphite, small and unclear: “46 L[...] pgn”; lower left, blue crayon: “N.C”; lower left, graphite, circled: “535”; lower left corner, graphite: “721”; lower left edge, graphite: “F. Weyer”. Fragment of mount, now in file: “Twod. by W. In Vienna / 352 / [...] / 8.”.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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