Jacques Courtois, attr., Battle of the Bosphorusdramatic... Lot 4402

Jacques Courtois, attr., Battle of the Bosphorusdramatic battle scene with cavalry and archers, the depiction thematizes the conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the states of Europe, the so-called "Turkish Wars", which flared up again and again in the period 1423-1878. For Courtois, too, these events were present from his own experience and were popular pictorial themes of his time, even if the warlike conflicts were primarily about territorial and power claims, these wars were often understood as a battle of religions and symbolized in Europe the defense of occidental Christianity against Islam, the painter locates his composed depiction at the narrowest point of the Bosporus, on the European territory of today's Istanbul, in front of the backdrop of a polygonal fortress tower, possibly this structure alludes to the Halil Pasch Tower of the Rumeli Fortress, built in 1452 in only four months under Sultan Mehmed II. The young painter Courtois stayed in Rome from 1640 and quickly became the most sought-after painter of battles and battles of his time, his attention was not on topographic accuracy or even recognizable historical personages - the painter rather depicted in his works the drama and horror of war in general and created by means of skilful atmospheric depiction - immediate close-up of the battle action, dramatic cloud formations, gun smoke, rising incendiary smoke, and dust of galloping horses - a battle action of greatest impressiveness and dynamics captivating the viewer and comprehensible, on this Wikipedia notes "... Jacques Courtois is without doubt the most important master of the narrative or decorative battle painting ... He was strongly influenced as a battle painter by Salvator Rosa. ... Unlike Rosa, however, he preferred battle with firearms. ... Courtois painted the masses of the battle tumult under the effect of atmospheric phenomena such as light, air and dust. He was interested in the reflections of light on the fast-moving bodies of horse and rider, the painterly effects that could be achieved by depicting the powder vapor and flashes of fire from the fired pistols. The sense of dynamism, of the disorder of the battlefield is heightened by Courtois's vigorous brushwork. The horses rolling on the ground, the tangle of combatants are further fragmented by the strong light-dark effects, reinforcing the impression of a battle. The battle is taken as a pretext to create a fascinating composition of light and shadow, colour and form. ..." and Bénézit adds "... Courtois was a highly skilled and spontaneous artist, and his paintings were almost always executed in a single attempt [alla-prima]. Unlike many great painters who have tackled the subject of war, he successfully captures the confusion of battles he experienced first-hand. His colors are sometimes rather somber, but his paintings stand out for their beautiful composition. With true passion - la furia francese [Engl: French temperament] - he brought to life the cavalry battles of the Milanese wars. ...", low pastose, effective painting over red bolus, oil on canvas, c. 1650, unsigned, craquelure, old mounted, painting layer partially plastered, retouchings, enclosed letter by Prof. Justus Müller Hofstede (Bonn) of 1980, in which he ascribes the present painting to Jacques Courtois, plus restoration invoice for the painting by Barbara Botz of 1987, beautiful with brass frame label "Jac. Courtois dit Le Bourguignon 1621-1676" framed, folding dimensions approx. 75 x 94.5 cm. Artist info: called Padre Giacomo or Jacopo Cortese or Cortesi or "Il Borgognone" or. "Le Bourguignon [The Burgundian]", French-born Italian battle and history painter, draughtsman as well as etcher (1621 Saint-Hippolyte/Franche-Comté to 1676 Rome), first pupil of his father, the church painter Jean-Pierre Courtois, about 1636 move to Milan, here friendship with the fieldmaster of the Spanish army, Baron Jean de Vatteville, coming from Doubs, with whom he joined the Spanish army for three years, until 1639 soldier, 1639 in Bologna and pupil of the Lorraine painter Jerôme Colomès, then pupil of Guido Reni and Francesco Albani in Bologna, then in Florence, here pupil in battle painting with Jan Asselijn (called Giovanni Azzolino, also Crabat Olandese or Crabbetje), then in Siena, from 1639/40 in Rome in the convent St. Croce in Gerusalemme, here protected by Pietro da Cortona and Michelangelo Cerquozzi and completely turned to battle painting.