Soldiers on horseback plundering a village

Few Flemish painters have formed the theme of battle scenes and cavalry engagements as profoundly as Sebastian Vrancx. Indeed, he was probably the first artist in the Northern or Southern Netherlands to attempt the depictions of battle scenes. Vrancx became an officer in the Antwerp Civic Guard in 1613 and eight years later was made a captain, and it was no doubt this first-hand military experience formed his interest and skill in the depiction of cavalry engagements and battles of the Dutch wars. Vrancx was to become the seminal figure in the development of such subjects, and approximately half of his known works are devoted to military scenes.

Datable to circa 1635, at which stage his works were in considerable demand, this beautifully preserved panel is a late work from artist's oeuvre. His pictures of this period are characterised by more attenuated and pearly tonalities and with a less compact but more dynamic execution of the trees which are almost glistening under the effect of light.