One might think that a battle
painting must be large in size and bright in color to show the grand chaos of
the fray, but this small piece by Courtois demonstrates otherwise. The dynamic
energy of the forms and brushwork hold power even four centuries later.
Work of interest: Untitled
battle scene with cavalry painted by Jacques Courtois, (a.k.a. Giacomo / Jacopo
Cortese, Le Bourguignon, or Il Borgognone), oil on canvas, ca. 1645-1655, 22” x
30” framed, 16” x 25” sight
Provenance: This work came
to George Washington University as a donation with the founding of the Eleanor
and Michael Burda Collection, which was dedicated in 2003. Mr. Burda had served
as an intelligence officer in Europe in WWII before going into the insurance
business, and some evidence suggests that he may have acquired the work while on his tour of duty. Although he is neither an alumnus nor a faculty member, he has made
contributions to the G.W. Hospital, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences,
and the university’s art collection, especially in honor of the doctors who
cared for President Reagan after his assassination attempt in 1981.[1]
More investigative work could be done on where Burda acquired the painting and
where it had been in the previous centuries, though we do know that he thought the work to be of some value. (Read more about Michael Burda
and his collection through the Gelman Library’s Special
Collections
Research
Center.)
Conservation notes: There
are significant regions of paint loss, especially in the lower right corner.
While the painting may have been cleaned in the past, it also retains a layer
of varnish, which in some areas has created a muddied effect on the old canvas.
This work is in need of some careful cleaning in order to counteract the
effects of the varnish, paint loss, and general grime due to age.
 |
| Details: fighter riding towards the tower; a painterly horse's head |
Who was Jacques Courtois?
Born in Burgundy in 1621 as son of
the painter Jean Courtois, Jacques Courtois (along with his younger brother
Guillaume) would become known in Italy as Le Bourguignon or Il
Bourgognone.[2] After
studying under their father, the brothers traveled to Italy around 1637.
Guillaume, the younger of the two, immediately began studying art in Rome and
Bologna, while Jacques spent time with a fellow Burgundian in Milan and served
in the French military for three years. According to a 1910 biographer,
Guillaume’s “draughtsmanship is better than that of Jacques, whom he did not,
however, rival in spirit, colour or composition.”[3]
Apparently, some images of battles rekindled his interest in art, and Jacques
Courtois also began to study art in earnest.
In Rome, he painted the subject of
the Miracle of the Loaves in the Cistercian monastery but soon gained
recognition for his skilled renderings of battle scenes. In Tuscany, Venice,
and Florence he worked successfully on battle paintings commissioned by
military patrons and also completed a series of twelve etchings of a similar
subject. Later in his life, Jacques Courtois took the habit of the Jesuits in
Rome in 1655, possibly to avoid trouble after it was rumored that he had
poisoned his own wife.[4]
As a Jesuit father, he worked primarily in the churches and monasteries around
Italy until his death in 1676. Nevertheless, Jacques Courtois is most
well-known for his scenes of contemporary battles in small yet energetic
paintings, made in a style that departs from the neat definitions of French and
Italian art in the Baroque era.
 |
| Details: some horsemen in the smoky distance; the central combatants |
The battle scene:
Despite its size and aged
appearance, this particular battle scene captivates the eyes in shades of red,
rust, blue gray, and gleaming white. The
composition centers on a jumble of no more than a dozen mounted soldiers who
clash and charge through clouds of smoke towards a fortification on the left.
In the center, one cavalryman on a white horse engages another on a dark horse
as their armor and swords catch the light. Below them, a fallen steed and
crumpled rider lie on the ground near discarded armor and weapons. The robust
strength of Courtois’s figures, men and horses alike, takes the forefront and
creates a landscape of strong, jostling bodies heavily influenced by the
Italian style. The land around them is difficult to distinguish, and one
glimpses a horizon only on the right in the distance, where two small riders
race away on the plain. Though murky at first glance, this battle scene gives
viewers the sense of the effort of a battle, the movement over ground, through
smoke, and against other bodies.
- M. Whitman
You can view more works by Jacques and Guillaume Courtois at
these sites and elsewhere::
References:
“Courtois, Jacques.” Web Gallery of Art. Created by
Emil Krén and Daniel Marx. http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/courtois/jacques/biograph.html.
“Courtois, Jacques (1621-1676) and Guillaume (1628-1679).” The
Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general
information, Eleventh edition, Vol. 7. Edited by Hugh Chisholm. New York:
The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, 1910. Google eBook. http://books.google.com/books?id=CioOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false.
329.
“Jacques Courtois [French Baroque Era Painter, 1621-1676].” Artcyclopedia.
John Maylon, Specifica Inc., 2011. http://www.http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/courtois_jacques.html.com/artists/courtois_jacques.html.
Kinniff, Jennifer. "December Collection of the Month: Michael Burda/Ronald Reagan Inaugural Materials Collection, 1969-2003." The George Washington University Libraries, Special Collections News and Notes, December 5, 2011. http://www.gelman.gwu.edu/collections/SCRC/current-events/december-collection-of-the-month-michael-burda-ronald-reagan-inaugural-materials-collection-1969-2003.
[1] Jennifer Kinniff, "December Collection of the Month: Michael Burda/Ronald Reagan Inaugural Materials Collection, 1969-2003," The George Washington University Libraries, Special Collections News and Notes, December 5, 2011.
[2] “Courtois, Jacques,” Web Gallery
of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.
[3] “Courtois, Jacques (1621-1676) and Guillaume (1628-1679),” The
Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh edition, Vol. 7, Ed. Hugh Chisholm, New York: The Encyclopædia
Britannica Company, 1910, Google eBook.
[4]
“Courtois, Jacques (1621-1676)
and Guillaume (1628-1679),” The Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh
edition, Vol. 7, Ed. Hugh Chisholm, New
York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, 1910, Google eBook.
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