The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has been restored and quite well. It should be hung in its current condition. The large canvas has an Italian lining. The paint layer is stable and still well textured. Abrasion and weakness to the paint layer does not appear to have occurred, and there is a visible strength and vigor to the palette. There are numerous isolated losses clearly visible under ultraviolet light within the sky and the foreground. However, the restorations are carefully applied, and almost all are successful, even in the lighter colors in the sky.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This intensley powerful and dramatic battle scene fits squarely within the tradition of large scale battle pictures which were produced in Italy at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It relates directly to another version in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel (inv. GK 563), which possibly of a slightly later date and also by an unknown Roman artist, though with changes to the right third of the composition. That work is almost identical to the present version, though is wider in format and includes additional figures to the present composition. 

In composition and handling the picture displays the influence of the artists near contemporaries Aniello Falcone and Jacques Courtois, two of the leading specialists in this field and those largely responsible for its popularity and dissemination throughout Italy. In particular, the prominently featured white horse in the left foreground calls to mind similar such horses in the work of Falcone. Furthermore, in the pictures compositional clarity and ability to render a chaotic scene still, it calls to mind the work of Poussin. The painting does not focus on one specific event or central character, but rather on the intensity of war itself. Here especially, artist provides an intensely emotional snapshot of a battle, in which the writhing pain and highly expressionistic faces of the soldier🥃s are rendered with impressive naturalism and psychological acuity.