Cavalrymen in a landscape

Details

Lambert de Hondt (Flemish, before 1655-after 1678)
Cavalrymen in a landscape
with Schulenburg inventory number '229' (lower left)
oil on canvas
28½ x 37½ in (72.4 x 95.2 cm.)

Provenance

(Possibly) Giambattista Pittoni (1687-1767), from whom purchased by
Field Marshal Count Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg (1661-1747), by whom bequeathed to his nephew,
Christian Günther von der Schulenburg, Berlin, and by descent to the present owner.

Literature

(Possibly) Giambattista Pittoni, in an undated fede in the Schulenburg archives: 'Atesto Io Gio: Batta Pittoni con mi giuramento d'aver veduto un quadro d'uno de [...] maestri fiamengi, originale intato e vegine degno di qual si sia Galeria e questo rapresenta Molte figure con cavali et altri soldati che giocha', Hanover, Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv, Dep. 82, Abt. III, N. 37.
Specificazione de Quadri spediti in Germania, Prima Spedizione12 7bre 1736, Hanover, Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv, MS, Dep. 82, Abt. III, N. 37, as the 'Quadro Molte Figure in Un Bosco' by 'Pauolo Fiamengo' purchased for 12 ducats and subsequently valued at 100 ducats.
Inventaire de la Gallerie de Feu S. e. Mgr. Le Feldmarechal Comte de Schulenburg, annotated copy, Hanover, Niedersächsisches Staatsarchiv, Dep. 82, Abt. III, N. 95. No. 229, as the 'Tableau, qui représ. la marche Espagnole, avec pays' by 'Fiamengo'.
A. Binion, La Galleria scomparsa del maresciallo von der Schulenburg, Milan, 1990, pp. 181, 264 and 280.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The traditional title given in the printed Schulenburg inventory ('Tableau, qui représ. la marche Espagnole, avec pays') suggests that the scene depicted is a halt during a march in a Spanish campaign, with a body of troops resting while the officers prepare for the next leg. The central figure, mounted on a grey charger, is the commanding officer, holding his baton of rank, while the figure approaching him with doffed hat is a messenger or a scout delivering a report.

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