SNAYERS, Pieter

The artist in his early period painted several skirmishes and similar scenes.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 12 minutes):

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: The Battle, suite

The painting depicts a wooded landscape with travellers and a horse-drawn wagon being ambushed by brigands and horsemen, a view of a church in the distance.

Pieter Snayers specialized in painting battle scenes. He applied himself to making large paintings of historical sieges from the contemporary conflicts. He became court painter to the governors of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal Infante Ferdinand and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. In their service he made a substantial number of pictures as a visual record of military successes. The topographical character of the set of siege pictures by Snayers in the Prado is remarkable.

Pieter Snayers specialized in painting battle scenes. He applied himself to making large paintings of historical sieges from the contemporary conflicts. He became court painter to the governors of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal Infante Ferdinand and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. In their service he made a substantial number of pictures as a visual record of military successes. The topographical character of the set of siege pictures by Snayers in the Prado is remarkable.

This painting depicts Spanish troops during the winter siege of Aire-sur-la-Lys, a fortified city on the border of France and Belgium. It was captured on December 7, 1641. This was an incident in the fourth phase of the war, when France had entered the war on the Protestant side, in order to prevent the Austrian-Spanish Habsburg dynasty from overwhelming France.

Snayers directs all attention to a background with steeply rising horizon, and a topographically accurate picture of the beleaguered town, derived from graphic examples, presented as if on a map unrolled before the viewer. This produces a strong contrast with the relatively small foreground in normal perspective, where the military activity is shown in anecdotal detail.

Pieter Snayers specialized in painting battle scenes. He applied himself to making large paintings of historical sieges from the contemporary conflicts. He became court painter to the governors of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal Infante Ferdinand and Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. In their service he made a substantial number of pictures as a visual record of military successes. The topographical character of the set of siege pictures by Snayers in the Prado is remarkable.