Two Soldiers and a Dog, from Desseins de quelques conduites de troupes canons et attaques de ville faictes par de la Bella

Gerard Valck, Dutch, 1651 - 1726
after Stefano Della Bella, Italian, 1610 - 1664

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about 1671

Etching on laid paper

Sheet: 2 1/4 × 4 3/4 in. (5.7 × 12 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Robert Dance, Class of 1977

PR.993.42.30

Geography

Place Made: Netherlands, Europe

Period

1600-1800

Object Name

Print

Research Area

Print

Not on view

Label

In these small prints, landscapes recede into the far distance, featuring rolling hills, church spires, and roofs of houses. Soldiers march or ride their horses towards the horizon line, becoming ever smaller. The prints’ great recession suggests the vast reaches of territory conquered by the troops, who swarm throughout the image. Meanwhile, in the foreground of each print stand small groups of figures, conversing or pausing to look at the landscape. They are witnesses to the continued expansion of conquered territory and success of the advancing legions. With their backs turned to the viewer, these men remain unidentifiable and anonymous, making the pictured moments of conquest nonspecific and almost timeless.

From the 2023 exhibition Recording War: Images of Violence 1500 – 1900, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Academic Programming

Course History

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke 1, Summer 2023

Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Josh Dannin, Summer 2024

Exhibition History

Recording War: Images of Violence, 1500-1900, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 20-August 20, 2023.

Provenance

Robert Dance, New York, New York; given to present collection, 1993.

Catalogue Raisonne

Reverse copy of De Vesme no. 252

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