Ruitergevecht 1710 - 1763

Jan Peeter Verdussen created this etching of a cavalry battle sometime in the first half of the 18th century. Its style is reminiscent of the kind of battle scene found in history paintings commissioned by European royal courts of the period. But rather than idealizing warfare, Verdussen presents a messy, chaotic scene. It's a far cry from the heroic paintings of his contemporaries. The image creates meaning through visual codes of military dress and horsemanship, combined with an understanding of earlier art. Verdussen was Flemish, active in the Austrian Netherlands, a region that was constantly being fought over at this time. His somewhat critical attitude to military conflict might be related to that historical situation. We can consider the social conditions that shaped artistic production here. As historians, we would look to period accounts of battles, military history, and art criticism, to fully understand this work. By examining the image in its social and institutional context, we can better understand how art reflects and comments on its own time.