The Battle of Nördlingen III
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 148 x 183 cm
Inventory numberNM 279
Other titlesTitle (sv): Slaget vid Nördlingen III Title (en): The Battle of Nördlingen III
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 180: Technical notes: The painting’s support consists of four pieces of plain weave fabric: two strips, resp. c.10.5–11.1 and 42.7–43.0 cm wide, sewn with a horizontal seam across the top; and two squarish pieces at the bottom, sewn with a horizontal seam c. 93.4–94.0 cm from the bottom edge and a vertical seam at centre. The topmost narrow strip of fabric is finer and more densely woven than the other pieces, which have a fairly loose weave with coarse, irregular threads. The original fabric support has been lined and mounted on a non-original strainer at the tacking edges of the relining canvas. The original tacking edges have been partially trimmed on all sides; no cusping is visible to the naked eye. The dimensions of the present canvas are somewhat smaller than those of the other two paintings in the set of three (see under nos. 178–179). The original fabric support was prepared with a thickly and smoothly applied white ground that completely covers the underlying texture of the support, followed by an overall semi-transparent light brown imprimatura that extends to the edges. Paint is generally applied quite thickly, especially in the sky, with vigorous brushwork in the clouds: the area towards the top of the canvas, overlapping the topmost seam, appears to be more thickly painted and coarsely executed than the rest of the sky, and is possibly a later addition. The landscape and figures are more thinly painted, with slight impastos in the lights. The larger figures in the foreground as well as the small-scale figures in the middle distance were executed after the landscape had already been painted. The figures and horses in the middle distance and background were first lightly sketched, using a fine brush and dark grey paint, directly over the landscape, then executed in colour. Some of these figures were never completed, for example, a mounted soldier seen from the back riding towards the horizon in the middle distance on the left (Fig. 1). The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1837, 1875, 1955, 1980 and 1981. Provenance: Possibly brought back from Cassel around 1766 by Johan Arckenholtz; purchased 1770 by Adolf Fredrik; KM 1804, no. 148 (as Pieter Meulener); KM 1816, no. 584. Exhibited: Münster/Osnabrück 1998/99, no. 1101 (as Pieter Meulener); Stockholm 2010, no. 80. Bibliography: NM Cat. 1867, p. 18 (as Pieter Meulener); Sander IV, pp. 72–73; Göthe 1887, pp. 150–151 (as Pieter Meulener); Göthe 1893, pp. 188–189; Göthe 1910, pp. 213–215; Granberg 1911–1913, I, p. 32; Granberg 1929–1931, III, p. 29; NM Cat. 1958, p. 122 (as Pieter Meulener); Legrand 1963, pp. 211–212, fig. 86 (as Pieter Meulener); Danielsson 1972, pp. 13–52 (as Peter Snayers); NM Cat. 1990, p. 218 (as Pieter Meulener); Pfaffenbichler 1997, pp. 64–65, fig. 80 (as Pieter Meulener); Engerisser and Hrniík 2009, figs. 21, 23. This painting depicts a cavalry charge of the joint Catholic troops against the Swedish Protestant army during the Battle of Nördlingen, in south-western Germany, on 6 September 1634. The supreme commanders of, respectively, the Imperial-Bavarian army and its allied Spanish forces, King Ferdinand of Hungary and the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, are depicted in the left foreground, on a height overlooking a vast battlefield, occupying about two-thirds of the picture space, where the Swedes are being successfully routed. The Cardinal-Infante is shown on the right, in the more forward position, turning in his mount to meet the viewer’s gaze, while his cousin, King Ferdinand, is slightly behind him on the left. CF [End]
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TechniquePainting
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