Artwork
Soldiers Beside a Fireplace
Soldiers Beside a Fireplace is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Willem Cornelisz Duyster. It dates from 1633 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
This depiction of military figures in a domestic interior highlights moments of leisure and social interaction rather than active combat.
Willem Cornelisz Duyster's 1633 oil painting portrays a genre scene set within an inn. The composition focuses on a group of soldiers gathered beside a fireplace, engaging in a card game. This depiction of military figures in a domestic interior highlights moments of leisure and social interaction rather than active combat.
The work represents the everyday life and pastimes of soldiers during the period, utilizing the intimate setting of a tavern to explore themes of camaraderie and recreation.
Technique & Style
Soldiers Beside a Fireplace is an oil painting executed on a panel support, created in 1633 by Willem Cornelisz Duyster. The work belongs to the genre art tradition, depicting a scene set within an inn featuring soldiers engaged in a card game. Measuring 43.5 cm in height and 45.5 cm in width, the piece utilizes the medium of oil paint to render its figures and interior setting.
As a genre scene from the Netherlands, it exemplifies the artist's focus on domestic and military life during the early 17th century.
History & Provenance
Soldiers Beside a Fireplace is an oil painting on panel created by the Dutch artist Willem Cornelisz Duyster. The work was executed in 1633 in the Netherlands. It depicts a genre scene set within an inn, featuring soldiers engaged in a card game near a fireplace. The painting is currently held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
Soldiers Beside a Fireplace, an oil-on-panel work by Willem Cornelisz Duyster dated 1633, is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum. Its placement there is documented in the Wikidata record for the painting, which lists the Hermitage as both the collection and the location of the work. The painting, measuring 43.5 by 45.5 centimeters, is catalogued as a Dutch genre scene depicting soldiers and a card game in an inn setting.
No specific accession number or detailed exhibition history is recorded in the available sources.
Overview
Willem Cornelisz Duyster’s 1633 oil painting Soldiers Beside a Fireplace presents a small, intimate interior where a group of soldiers gathers around a hearth. The composition is confined to a dimly lit room, the only illumination coming from the fire, which highlights the figures and their surroundings in a restrained yet focused manner.
Artist & collection
Artist
Willem Cornelisz Duyster (1599–1635) was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Amsterdam, best known for his "guardroom scenes" (cortegaarddje), genre paintings showing the military life.
