Pieter Snayers created immense historical battle scenes and smaller works depicting cavalry skirmishes and scenes of soldiers at rest. The latter include Horsemen Resting in a Forest in the State Hermitage. The painting demonstrates the artist's mastery of composition. The numerous personages are inscribed in a triangle, the left and right sides of which are delineated by trees. The base of the pyramidal composition is provided by a hillock in the foreground that is filled with the large figures of a horseman and dice-players. Pieter Snayers reveals great professionalism not only in the construction of the forest landscape, but also in the combination of the landscape with the figures, creating a sense of movement. The personages are invested with vivid characters conveyed through expressive poses and energetic gestures.
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Title:
Halt of Horsemen in a Forest
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Material:
Technique:
oil
Dimensions:
82x107 cm
Acquisition date:
Entered the Hermitage in 1915; handed over from the P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky collection
Inventory Number:
ГЭ-3248
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Collection:
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