PIETER MEULENER, cerchia di
Antwerp, 1602 – 1654
Return from a military campaign
oil on canvas, cm 31×51
A long procession of soldiers, some on foot and others on horseback, is winding in the painting from left to right. A flashing sky and a few other landscape details form the background.
Maria Cecilia Fabbri, author of a detailed study on the work, suggests that this small painting on canvas is a matter of a draft for a larger work, and hypothesizes a possible placement to an episode of the final phase of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). In fact, the clothes of the personalities appearing in the painting refer to this particular period in history; it may be valuable to compare them with those reproduced by Callot in his series dedicated to that long war. The researcher therefore attributes the work to a Flemish artist around the second twenty-five year period of the 17th century, and in particular to the circle of the painter, born in Antwerp, Pieter Meulener.