Cannon with Soldiers playing cards, from Desseins de quelques conduites de troupes canons et attaques de ville faictes par de la Bella
Gerard Valck, Dutch, 1651 - 1726
after Stefano Della Bella, Italian, 1610 - 1664
about 1671
Etching on laid paper
Sheet: 2 1/8 × 4 5/8 in. (5.4 × 11.7 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Robert Dance, Class of 1977
PR.993.42.32
Geography
Place Made: Netherlands, Europe
Period
1600-1800
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Label
In these small prints, landscapes recede into the far distance, featuring rolling hills, church spires, and roofs of houses. Soldiers march or ride their horses towards the horizon line, becoming ever smaller. The prints’ great recession suggests the vast reaches of territory conquered by the troops, who swarm throughout the image. Meanwhile, in the foreground of each print stand small groups of figures, conversing or pausing to look at the landscape. They are witnesses to the continued expansion of conquered territory and success of the advancing legions. With their backs turned to the viewer, these men remain unidentifiable and anonymous, making the pictured moments of conquest nonspecific and almost timeless.
From the 2023 exhibition Recording War: Images of Violence 1500 – 1900, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Academic Programming
Course History
Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke 1, Summer 2023
Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Josh Dannin, Summer 2023
Facilitated Experience: Special Tour - From Goya to Photojournalism, Summer 2023
Exhibition History
Recording War: Images of Violence, 1500-1900, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 20-August 20, 2023.
Provenance
Robert Dance, New York, New York; given to present collection, 1993.
Catalogue Raisonne
Reverse copy of De Vesme no. 254
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