Peter Tillemans, the son of a diamond-cutter, was born and trained as an artist in Antwerp. In 1708 he was brought to England by a picture dealer named Turner for whom he painted battle scenes. A versatile artist, Tillemans produced a range of works, including interiors, landscapes, portraits and conversation pieces, as well as sporting and genre pictures. Prominent among his patrons were the Dukes of Devonshire and Kingston and the antiquary Dr Cox Macro, who provided him with numerous commissions. The specific subject of the present painting has not been identified but is probably an imaginary view of a military company with a baggage train, set in an Italianate landscape. A reduced version of the composition (fig. 1) was sold by Christie’s in 2016.¹