Jan Martszen II
1609 – after 1647
A Cavalry Encampment with numerous Figures conversing, playing Cards, tending to their Horses, and dancing in the Distance




Medium:
Oil on Panel
Category:
Dimensions:
61(h) x 101(w) cms
Signed:
Signed and dated lower Right: 'IM D. Jonge 1632'
Essay:
Jan Martszen (known as Jan Martszen de Jonge) was born in Haarlem in 1609 and was to spend much of his artistic life painting military subjects, especially cavalry actions and skirmishes. He was the pupil of his uncle Esaias van de Velde who was the chief exponent of this genre at the time.
These battle scenes emerged from the heightened militarised state of the contested lands of Flanders and the budding Dutch Republic. The Thirty Years War (1618 - 1648) raged across The Holy Roman Empire and is known today as one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. It appears that Martszen was only active for a decade around 1630 - 1641, the period from which all his dated works are known. It is surely no coincidence that this corresponds with a long period of Dutch successes in the war, making battle scenes particularly popular with the patriotic Republic.
The historian Hoet mentions a portrait by Miereveldt of the princes Maurice and Frederick Henry of Orange, claiming that the horses were painted by Jan Martszen. This may indicate that the latter spent some time working in Delft and Haarlem. In 1626 Martszen moved to The Hague where he joined the Guild and returned to Haarlem in 1629 where he remained for the rest of his life apart from a 5-year stay in Amsterdam following his marriage.
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This large work by Martszen de Jonge is undoubtedly his masterpiece. While the vast majority of the artist's output consists of fierce cavalry skirmishes similar to those of his contemporary Palamedes Palamedesz., the present picture shows a delightfully Brueghelian military encampment around a small village. Rather than fighting we see soldiers and peasants at rest: drinking, playing cards, haggling, tending to horses, or otherwise making mischief. The scene is wonderfully animated with Martszen's finely drawn figures in a large clearing bordered by huts and tents with a clump of oaks in the centre around which the composition pivots. In the distance soldiers come in from patrol and we see the spires of a great city, perhaps a reference to the Siege of Antwerp.
Martszen uses strong, clear contours around his figures and loose brushwork with a limited palette to describe the sky and landscape. With a horizon line across the middle of the panel the overall manner is in keeping with that of his teacher and uncle Esaias van de Velde. The content of the picture, however, is considerably more original. Martensz has taken his typical subjects - cavalrymen - and introduced them to a setting more typical of a kermesse than a battle. The open avenue bordered by cottages and tents is remeniscent of the kermesse scenes of another of Martszen's contemporaries Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot, but Martszen's military elements are rare additions to the theme.
The orange sashes worn by the cavalrymen around their middle or over the shoulder immediately identifies them as Dutch soldiers. Orange can also be spotted in some of their stockings or the plumes of their hats, a necessity in an age before uniform. The men are lightly armoured with only metal breastplates indicating that they are harquebusiers - lightning fast riders who would close with the enemy as quickly as possible while firing their pistols, dart in with their swords, and often dash away again as part of a raid. On the right is a man in full armour on a black horse - a cuirassier - serving as heavy cavalry.
Provenance:
Collection of the Buéso family, Brussels, since at least the 1950s;
By family descent to the previous owner.