Abraham VAN DER HOEF (1611-1666) Lot n° 610

Battle scene On oak panel Two boards unparqueted 57,5 x 84 cm Abraham van der Hoef was born in Haarlem. Dutch Golden Age painter, little is known about his life and production. It was suggested that he was active between 1613 and 1649 in Delft and that he became a member of the guild there in 1651 . Abraham van der Hoef is known for landscapes with battle scenes. Images of warfare had a long tradition in Dutch painting, from sixteenth-century representations of peasant revolts to the various combat scenes that were popular during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). In this work van der Hoef depicts a violent skirmish between Dutch and Spanish soldiers. As the erce confrontation rages on, dead bodies lie strewn on the ground and horses are ustered by the confusion of the battle, setting the scene into a dynamic composition.