Battle of the Pyrenees, 28 July 1813

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

The chaos of battle is aptly represented in this scene showing the Battle of the Pyrenees. The main action is set at the foot of the mountain range, but fighting continues on the distant peaks.

Two similar aquatint prints showing the Battle of the Pyrenees and also made after designs by William Heath were published some 17 years before this work, in 1819, as part of ‘The Wars of Wellington, a narrative poem; in fifteen cantos’. Written by William Combe (1742-1823), the publication included 30 hand-coloured aquatint plates by Joseph Constantine Stadler, each made after an original drawing by William Heath. Combe’s poem describes the scene at the close of the battle:

‘When dubious ev’ning veil’d the lawn,

The baffled foes had all withdrawn,

And left their dying and their dead,

O’er all the scene of slaughter spread,

While through the anxious hours of night,

They fortify the mountains height.’

Draughtsman and printmaker William Heath was born in Northumbria. Little is known of his early life but he may have been raised in Spain and have served in the British army. Heath was 14 when his first satirical cartoons were published and he continued to etch caricatures and illustrate books, including his own ‘Life of a Soldier’ (1823). In 1825-26 he was in Edinburgh, writing and illustrating for the journal ‘Glasgow Looking Glass’. He later returned to London to illustrate a similar journal, ‘Looking Glass’. From 1827-29 he identified his work with a tiny drawing of stage character ‘Paul Pry’, abandoning the motif when it was copied by other artists. From 1830 he concentrated on topographical illustration. He died in Hampstead, aged 45.
Thomas Sutherland was a prominent aquatint engraver who specialised in sporting, coaching, naval and military subjects, as well as topographical views. His engravings were generally made after the designs of contemporary artists. His best known works are some of the 105 illustrations to Rudolf Ackermann’s ‘The Microcosm of London’ (completed in three volumes in 1810). Sutherland also produced a series of prints based on the Peninsular Battles of 1808 to 1814. He lived and worked in London.

Places

Pyrenees, Spain

Subjects

topography, smoke, mountain, military uniform, flag, death, bayonet, musket, sword, soldier, Battle of the Pyrenees

Materials & Techniques

aquatint, colour aquatint

Artist

William, ("Paul Pry") Heath (1795 - 1840)
Thomas Sutherland (1785 - 1838)

Title

Battle of the Pyrenees, 28 July 1813

Date

published 4 June 1836

Medium

Colour aquatint

Acquisition

Purchased from John McMaster, August 1949

GAC number

886