Landskab, som en hær drager igennem 1834

A. Wolf created this image of an army moving through a landscape sometime before 1800. The drawing presents us with a bird’s eye view of a procession of soldiers on horseback, infantry with pikes, and horse-drawn wagons moving through a valley. The image summons the tradition of the military landscape, a genre that gained prominence in Northern Europe in the 17th century, particularly in the Netherlands, a country that was then fighting for independence. The conventions of military landscape painting often served to assert national identity and celebrate military victories. This drawing offers a fascinating insight into the artistic and political climate of its time. To understand this work fully, one might investigate the socio-political context of late 18th-century Europe, looking at how artists responded to the rise of nationalism and the ongoing conflicts that shaped the continent. The resources and expertise of museums, libraries and archives can help us better understand this drawing.