(Haarlem 1619–1668)
A cavalry engagement with a burning windmill,
monogrammed lower right: PSW,
oil on panel 56.5 x 82 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Adrian Leonard van Heteren Gevers (1722-1800), The Hague, 1752;
thence by descent;
1809 donation to the ‘Koniklijk Museum’, Amsterdam;
their sale, 4 August 1828, lot 162 (sold to Brondgeest);
Baron G. J. Verstolke van Soelen, the Hague;
whose collection was bought en bloc in 1846 by Sir Thomas Baring, Samuel Jones
Lloyd (later Lord Overstone) and Sir Humphrey Paulet St. John Mildmay;
H. B. Mildmay sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 24 June 1893, lot 88 (bought by Sedelmayer);
with Charles Sedelmayer, Paris;
sold to Gates on 30 September 1902;
John W. Gates, New York;
sale, Christie’s, New York, 13 January 1987, lot 100;
sale, Christie’s, New York, 8 April 1988, lot 108;
with Galleria Caretto, Turin, 1988;
Private European collection

Literature:
G. Hoet, Catalogus of naamlijst van schilderijen met derzelver prijzen, 1752–1770, vol. II, p. 462;
J. Smith, Supplement to the Catalogue Raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters, London 1842, vol. 9, p. 172, no. 97;
G. F. Waagen, Galleries and cabinets of art in Great Britain, forming a supplemental volume to the Treasures of art in Great Britain, London 1857, p. 155;
B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619–1668), The horse painter of the Golden Age, Doornspijk 2006, vol. I, pp. 273–74, no. A 258, vol. II, plate 240

Birgit Schumacher included the present painting as no. A258 in her catalogue raisonné of Philips Wouwerman’s works, published in 2006. Previously it has been in several prominent collections: Koninklijk Museum, Amsterdam, Baron G. J. Verstolke van Soelen, The Hague, and Sir Thomas Baring, London, as a good example for Wouwerman’s still flourishing popularity long after its spectacular climax during the eighteenth century.

On the basis of a recent photograph Birgit Schumacher considers the present painting as an autograph work by Philips Wouwerman, however she has minor reservations, possibly on account of restoration. Nevertheless, she acknowledges that the composition is very convincing as a whole, and notes that the sky is very beautiful and that the anatomical rendering of the horses is accurate.