caption

Peter Tillemans, River Scene with a Convoy of Soldiers

Photo courtesy of Dave Penman (All rights reserved)

Details

Country House
Trewithen
Title(s)
River Scene with a Convoy of Soldiers
Date
? c.1720s
Medium and support
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Overall height: 74 cm, Overall width: 143 cm
Artist
Peter Tillemans (c.1684-1734)
Catalogue Number
TN44

Description

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

undated. Oil on canvas, 47 × 64.2 cm. Private Collection.

Figure 1.
Peter Tillemans, An Italianate River Landscape with a Military Company, undated. Oil on canvas, 47 × 64.2 cm. Private Collection.


Digital image courtesy of Christie’s. (All rights reserved)

by Martin Postle

Footnotes

  1. This picture and the Trewithen version may relate to River Scene with a Convoy of Soldiers, listed in Robert Raines, ‘Peter Tillemans, Life and Work, with a List of Representative Paintings’, The Walpole Society, vol. 47, 1980, p. 56, no. 69, which was sold by Christie’s, London, 16 May 1952 (18) and is signed ‘P. Tillemans’.

    1

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