Cavalry Skirmish (Fight for the Flag)

The action shown culminates in the decisive moment of a battle for the flag between two horsemen, representing Christians and Ottomans. The decorative wall hanging painting Cavalry skirmish, by an unknown German painter, does not record a specific event. A larger number of soldiers is shown in the background and the scene pictures a fictitious battle involving several battalions.

The crowd of characters in the action allowed the painter to compose the scene using purely aesthetic criteria and to show his mastery of artistic means of expression: color and character compositions. Part of the sky is hidden by smoke and serves as a coulisse for a group of characters whose arms create lines guiding the eye to the central point of the battle.

Paintings of battles were used by artists to reflect on specific events or simply to show everyday images of military life which were frequent subjects of historical painting. Recruitment, expeditions, marching, skirmishes, and plunder gave a number of opportunities to understand various aspects of military life.

Special paintings of battles were made to celebrate generals, picturing them in the poses of ancient heroes. Analytical paintings of battlefields were made for military officers and experts. Within the limits of the discipline, artists documented war events in very diverse ways, from using a romanticized celebratory tone to showing a true picture of events, and from real action to historic depictions made decades later (Pfaffenbichler 1993, pp. 48-65, 114-131).

Also, the exhibited painting, in view of its motif and selected costumes, most likely refers to the past. The painting is enriched by detailed depictions of various moments undoubtedly attractive to viewers, such as the theatrical effect of a bullet just fired almost precisely in the direction of the viewer from the pistol of a horseman fighting alongside the soldier engaged in the struggle for flag.

Zuzana Ludiková ● ŠVANTNEROVÁ, Jana a kol.: Tieň minulosti / The Shadow of the Past, Bratislava: Neinvestičný fond židovského kultúrneho dedičstva – Menorah, 2013.