A very Powerful Ink and Brown Wash Drawing of An Antique Equestrian Battle by an Italian School.
The Drawing was considered to be late 16th Century or very early 17th Century.
It is done in powerful strokes of Pencil, Brown Ink with brown gouache and traces of Graphite pencil.
The drawing depicts a raging battle scene with, at the forefront two soldiers dueling on horseback while, in the background, two armies are seen fighting.
The gorgeous nuanced use of gouache to simulate shades and depth betrays the hand of an experienced draughtsman.
The battle seems to be pitting the Roman Army against a Northern enemy.
The drawing is signed on the top left corner but the signature has not been identified.
The verso of the drawing bears the stamp of the Belgian dealer in prints and drawings Albert van Loock (born 1917), who owned a gallery on the Rue Saint-Jean in Brussels after 1949. The stamp was applied to drawings and prints he sold.
Albert Van Loock became friends with several artists including Magritte and above and beyond selling also compiled his own private collection, which featured Flemish and Italian Masters and held more the a thousand drawings….
His Mark ALV, which he affixed to the drawings he sold, bears the Lugt Number 3752.
The name of Frits Lugt will always be associated with his great reference work, ‘Les Marques de collections de dessins & d’estampes’, published in 1921, and the Supplément of 1956. A new version integrating both volumes, revised and enlarged, has been available online since 2010; it is regularly updated.
This database lists all the collectors’ marks on drawings and prints; they take the form of small written or stamped signs, and they signify ownership or provenance. Marks inform us about the collecting history of works of graphic art.
The Gilt Wood frame enhances perfectly the beauty of this drawing.
The frame measures 14.70 inches long and 11.40 inches high
The drawing measures 9.44 inches long and 6.29 inches high.