Cavalry Combat
1650 - 1655. Oil on canvas. Not on displayThe main scene occupies the foreground, though it is no longer set in the plane closest to the viewer as in the previous period, but slightly further back. As a result, the figures are smaller in size. The horizon line is also lower, affording the sky greater prominence. Furthermore, although the composition is still partly enclosed in the background by a diagonal, it extends into the distance on the left side. At the same time, the rigid arrangement of the space on the basis of horizontal planes of colour has been replaced by an atmospheric perspective that blends light and colours, creating a sensation of spatial continuity. These horizontal planes are now connected by a series of secondary scenes that enliven the painting as a whole. All these features infuse the composition with greater depth. As for the colour, although for the main scene and the foreground landscape the artist uses the same palette of greyish-browns and yellows, broken only by small touches of red and the white of the falling horse, the green of the tree that borders the composition on the right and, above all, the delicate blue of the sky, perceptible through dramatic masses of cloud, foreshadow the delicate tones of Wouwerman`s mature style.
As is usually the case with Wouwerman, although seemingly natural, the figures are grouped together in a carefully studied manner. Here they still follow the tradition of the Haarlem school. The circular arrangement that allows the horse to be depicted from various sides in a dynamic manner is commonly found in the works of Esaias van de Velde (1587-1630) and his followers. Wouwerman employs it in a few other battle scenes, such as Battle between Christians and Turks (St Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, inv. 838), although here the circle is more open and the dynamism more pronounced. On the other hand, the figures and animals are more refined but still recall Van Laer in certain features, such as the white horse that falls to the ground while its rider hastily flees.
Schumacher is of the opinion that these battle scenes, with complex compositions, were the young painter`s calling card: through them he showed himself to be a continuer of the tradition of Van de Velde and Van Laer and, at the same time, the leading painter of battle scenes of the Haarlem school, for which he secured a reputation in the seventeenth century (Posada Kubissa, T.: Pintura holandesa en el Museo Nacional del Prado. Catálogo razonado, 2009, p. 319).