Il riposo dei soldati
Bottega di David Teniers II (Anversa 1610 - Bruxelles 1690)
Flemish school of the 17th century
Workshop of David Teniers the Younger
(Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690)
Guard post, with soldiers at rest
Oil on canvas, cm. 64 x 83
Framed cm. 81 x 102
This painting, full of charm, depicts a group of soldiers resting in the entrance hall of a fortress sitting around a game table. The canvas expresses all the magnetism that has always surrounded this particular theme, of the guardrooms, extremely fashionable in 17th century genre painting, and which induced many Flemish painters to dedicate scenes of great wealth to it, such as the one we are happy to offer you.
It is a work to be traced back to the workshop of David Teniers II (Antwerp 1610 - Brussels 1690), which addressed this theme countless times and in many variations, some of which are now in the most prestigious international collections, including:
The author of our painting, while recognizing himself as a pupil and follower of the master, describes the environment with effective realism by placing the characters, a group of armigers at rest intent on playing dice, in the foreground.
As frequently in Dutch and Flemish painting, the main theme hides here a secondary theme, in this religious case, and precisely an episode from the life of St. Peter narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, in which the saint manages to escape from the prison of Herod thanks at the intervention of an angel, while the guards are distracted.
One aspect of great interest in the composition is the sumptuous still life on the left, where the author placed a pile of weapons, with spears, a shield, a rolled up banner, and several pieces of armor disorderly thrown to the ground. The set of objects is completed by a richly engraved armor, perfectly composed and complete with plume. It should be considered that this is a war clothing already obsolete in the late seventeenth century, and therefore inserted in line with the moralizing intent: the armor is a reference to vanitas, a reason for the transience of power and fame.
The canvas is in excellent condition.
Certificate of guarantee and authenticity according to the law.
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