English: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 32:

Technical notes: The support consists of a single board of oak (0.5–0.8 cm. thick) with a horizontal grain. All of the edges have been bevelled from 2–4 cm. The support has its original format.

The preparation consists of a white chalk ground applied thinly and evenly with a brush to cover the structure of the support completely. In places the ground has been applied over the lower edge of the panel. There is a semi-transparent light brownish imprima tura. A sketch was probably made (faintly visible on one of the columns) in a light brown colour, possibly with a brush. In parts there is opaque black underpainting of the figures in the foreground. The same opaque black layer is present in the upper right hand corner in the sky. The paint layer is thin but applied opaquely. The foreground and background have been painted separately and reserves left for architectural details on the right in the painting as well as the urn. A reserve has been left for the tower on the left of the painting against the sky. Details have been painted separately over the foreground.

The figures have been rendered sketchily in opaque paint and with distinct facial features. Impasto highlights are present in the figures and the clouds. The combatants on horseback are painted in blue (Turks in blue) and red mainly in the foreground. The central scene with a fallen white horse can also be seen in other paintings by Breydel. The figures in the foreground and background are rendered thinly and are today semi-transparent (the coloured glazes have faded). The main scene has been rendered in thin paint over the landscape in the background.

The materials, technique and execution match no. 33 completely. There is a tendency to cleavage in the sky and the paint surface is rather abraded. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1929.

Provenance: Karl XIII’s estate inventory 1818; Karl XV’s coll., Rosersberg; purchased in 1873 by auction after Karl XV together with Rbg 67, cat. no. 759–760; transferred from the NM (formerly NM 1147) to Rosersberg c. 1943.

Bibliography: Göthe 1887, p. 32, no. 1178; Saur 1966, vol. 14 1966, p. 185.

This battle scene depicts a cavalry skirmish with a mountainous landscape in the background in which buildings and ruins have been placed. In the foreground a battle is taking place between a large number of horsemen in colourful garments and with flags of different colours. A white horse has fallen and is portrayed with its turban-clad rider. Breydel painted several similar motifs with battles between the Turks and the Austrians. Similar compositions can be found, for instance in the Museum in Gotha, in the royal collections in Liechtenstein and in the Royal Palace in Madrid.1

On the right a ruin with pillars and an urn on a pedestal are depicted and in the middleground on the left a besieged fortress is on fire surrounded by battling horsemen. There are similarities between the composition of this work and several other battle scenes by Breydel. One recurring element is the detailed foreground with a dramatic conflict, often with a white horse occupying the central position, a middle ground in which buildings are situated and a landscape in the background with mountains that fade into blue.2

In the middle ground and the background to the right sheer mountains are depicted in the Nationalmuseum’s painting and behind it a lake with a blue sky and fleeting clouds. The ruin in the foreground with its pillars and urn on a pedestal is characteristic of Breydel and can be found in a modified form in other works of his that have been preserved. The composition of this painting is carefully considered, with the main battle scene in the foreground, a middle ground with the besieged fortress and in the background an ornate landscape. The cavalry skirmish is characterised by its drama and movement and also by the distinct wealth of detail in the portrayal of the horses, flags and riders. It probably depicts a battle against the Turks, which is underscored by the turban-clad rider who meets his fate on his white horse. This painting has a companion piece in no. 33.

KS 1 Legrand 1963, p. 223. 2 See, for instance, Sotheby’s London, 5 July 1995, lot 207; Christie’s Amsterdam, 8 May 1995, lot 57; Sotheby’s Amsterdam, 3 May 1999, lot 53;

Sotheby’s Amsterdam 18 May 2004, lot 16