Austrian Soldiers Crossing a Ford

In 1850 and 1851 Pettenkofen was busy with a very different kind of military picture. He was drawing plates for a lithographed series on the Austrian army, soldiers drawn in clear, correct detail. This small oil on cardboard, signed and dated 1851, turns them round. Most of the men have their backs to us. They crowd into the shadow of a steep sandy bank as they wade through a shallow river, a drummer carrying his drum high on his back to keep it dry, while one soldier pushes on alone, bent under his pack. Nobody poses and nothing heroic happens. Above them the sky takes up most of the board, heavy grey cloud breaking open over a low, pale horizon.