Troops on the March

Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater

ca. 1725 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

A pupil of Antoine Watteau, Pater was born to the north at Valenciennes, an area that was restored to France in 1678 after having belonged to the Spanish Netherlands. The wars of Louis XIV had ravished the northern territories and Pater would have seen the aftermath. As young men, he and Watteau both painted military subjects partly inspired by contemporary events and also aware of depictions by earlier, Flemish painters such as David Teniers the Younger. The marchers, closely observed, wear contemporary dress and carry weapons and ammunition bags. Camp followers with babies, pots and pans, and dogs walk and ride beside them.

Artist

Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater

Date

ca. 1725

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Bequest of Ethel Tod Humphrys, 1956