Description
Circle of Jacques Courtois, called Il Borgognone (Saint-Hyppolite 1621 – Rome 1676) – Cavalry Battle.
Oil on canvas, in a carved and gilded wooden tray frame of the 19th century.
The composition belongs to the tradition of seventeenth-century battle painting, of which Jacques Courtois called il Borgognone was one of the most distinctive practitioners in Italy during the second half of the 1600s. The scene depicts a group of horsemen in the midst of combat, rendered with rapid brushwork and a restrained palette of browns, greys, and whites, enlivened by flashes of light emerging from the dark ground. In the background, a second group of figures dissolves into a dusty luminosity that conveys the depth of the battlefield. The compositional structure and handling of tonal contrasts point to the circle of Borgognone, though a more precise attribution cannot be proposed at this stage.
Condition report: Relined canvas. Good overall condition of the pictorial surface, with signs of wear and minor paint losses.
