Troops on the March
Jean-Baptiste Joseph Pater French
Not on view
A pupil of Watteau, Pater was born to the north at Valenciennes, an area which, having belonged to the Spanish Netherlands, had been restored to France in 1678. The wars of Louis XIV had ravished the northern territories and Pater would have seen the aftermath. As young men, he and Watteau both painted military subjects. The marchers, closely observed, wear contemporary dress and carry weapons and ammunition bags. Camp followers with babies, pots and pans, and pet dogs walk and ride beside them.
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