Troops on the March

Pater submitted a military subject to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture as his reception piece in 1728, but troop pictures, which date from his early years, represent only a fraction of his oeuvre. He often painted them in pairs (see also 56.55.2) and they show, in addition to soldiers, camp followers, women, often with babies in arms, and small children. The soldiers, mostly of the lower ranks, are not uniformly dressed, but wear coats of various colors; they carry sabers, muskets, pikes, and ammunition bags. They are accompanied by victuallers with wagons of provisions. The figures are minutely painted in a tight, descriptive style. The mood is somber and the overall tone darker than usual for Pater. The rolling landscapes that make up the backgrounds are furnished with dilapidated houses, towers, walls, and fences set among filmy trees, all clearly imaginary.

Katharine Baetjer 2010

Baron Adolphe de Rothschild, Paris (until d. 1900); Baron Maurice de Rothschild, Paris (1900–1924; sold to Wildenstein); [Wildenstein, New York, from 1924; sold to Macbride]; Mrs. Herbert Macbride, later Mrs. Julian Humphrys, New York (by 1928–d. 1956)

City Art Museum of St. Louis. "French Art of the XVIII Century," January 15–February 15, 1923, no. 21 (as "War Scene," lent by Baron M. de Rothschild).

Baltimore Museum of Art. "French Art of the XVIII Century," January 4–February 3, 1924, no. 15 or 16 (as "War Scene," lent by Baron M. de Rothschild).

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century," November 6, 1935–January 5, 1936, no. 6 (as "Troops on the March," lent by Mrs. Julian Humphrys).

Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture européenne," June 23–November 12, 2006, no. 34.

Barcelona. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. "Grandes maestros de la pintura europea de The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York: De El Greco a Cézanne," December 1, 2006–March 4, 2007, no. 27.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Watteau, Music, and Theater," September 22–November 29, 2009, no. 20.

Florence Ingersoll-Smouse. Pater. Paris, 1928, p. 73, no. 449, fig. 125, as owned by Mrs. Herbert MacBride, New York.

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 370, ill.

Katharine Baetjer in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture européenne. Exh. cat., Fondation Pierre Gianadda. Martigny, 2006, pp. 190, 192–94, no. 34, ill. (color, overall and detail) [Catalan ed., Barcelona, 2006, pp. 102–3, no. 27, ill. (color)].

Katharine Baetjer in Watteau, Music, and Theater. Ed. Katharine Baetjer. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2009, pp. 63–64, no. 20, ill. (color).

Katharine Baetjer. French Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art from the Early Eighteenth Century through the Revolution. New York, 2019, pp. 107–10, no. 25, ill. (color).

A signed replica (Rau Foundation, Zurich), close in size (53 x 64 cm) and coloring but with slight variations in detail, was engraved by Nicolas III de Larmessin (1684–1755).