Battle Scene
c. 1645/1646
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
overall: 48 x 82.5 cm (18 7/8 x 32 1/2 in.) framed: 62.9 x 97.3 x 6 cm (24 3/4 x 38 5/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CNE-B
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Joseph F. McCrindle in memory of Frederick A. den Broeder
Accession Number
2000.159.1
Art Historical Context
Philips Wouwerman's *Battle Scene*, painted around 1645–1646, captures the chaos and energy of cavalry combat in a compact oil-on-panel format (48 x 82.5 cm). A leading Dutch Golden Age artist (1618–1668), Wouwerman specialized inquestrian subjects, landscapes, and battle tableaux, blending meticulous detail with dramatic Baroque lighting. This medium—oil on a wooden panel—allowed for the fine brushwork and luminous effects that define his style, making it ideal for intimate yet vivid scenes viewed up close. Wouwerman's compositions often feature rearing horses, swirling dust, and distant inf...
About the Artist
Philips Wouwerman
Specialized in military and hunting scenes in which horses are prominent. Son of a little known painter in Alkmaar, Paul Joosten Wouwerman. Philips died at the age of 48 reportedly as the result of an accident, having created a large number of landscapes, battle scenes and the elegant life of his time, set in castles, parties, hunting, huntsmen and prized horses.