File:Dutch Town sacked by the Spaniards (Daniel van Heil) - Nationalmuseum - 21044.tif

English: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 89:

Technical notes: The support consists of a single plate of copper with unevenly cut edges at the top and bottom. It is less than 0.5 mm thick and thus lacks rigidity. A number of earlier deformations can be seen that result from inadequate handling. Initially the surface had been given an even and smooth finish. There are no visible tool marks on the verso. The verso is partly covered by a thin preserved black paint layer. Traces of an inscription on the verso in chalk, now illegible.

The ground has been applied evenly over the copper plate. The surface is covered with horizontal scratches in the copper to provide a better grip for the paint layer. Traces of underdrawing in a wet medium with a fine brush. The motif is more visible in infrared reflectography than in normal light. The woman in the foreground has been added at a later stage in the painting as the logs are visible through her in infra-red light. There are drawn guidelines to indicate the architectural details in the background. Pentimenti are present between the stairway leading to the water and the boats, two figures sketched in here have later been painted over. Today the motif resembles a sketch but this is related to changes in the paint layer as the organic pigments have faded.

The paint layer is thin and applied semi-transparently. The central motif has been painted over the foreground and background. Rapid schematic brushwork with glazes that now appear to be totally or partly faded paint layers, especially the blue and red glazes. White impasto highlights. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1943.

Provenance: Coll. H. Schultz ; Coll. Gustaf Axén; gift to the museum in 1943.

Bibliography: Granberg 1912, no. 132 (as Mattheus Molanus); NM Cat. 1958, p. 226 (as anonymous Flemish artist) NM Cat.1990, p. 166 (as attributed to Daniel van Heil).

In this painting Daniel van Heil combines two of his specialities, fire and winter effects. A group of mounted Spanish soldiers riding along the village street in the centre of the work away from the house they have just set on fire, encounter resistance and a skirmish is taking place to the left. In the right foreground a group of villagers seek refuge in a pair of boats on the canal.

Seated on a fallen tree trunk in the foreground is a female figure, Patientia, holding a crucifix: at her feet can be seen the corpse of a child and a dead lamb, pierced by a sword. A winged genius is flying towards her from behind.

This picture obviously alludes to reality in early 17th century Europe, ravaged by the horrors of the Thirty Years War.

GCB [End]