2-999-627 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Guard Room, c1642. In the 1640s, at the end of the Thirty Years War (1618-48) pitting Protestants against Catholics, military life was a popular subject for art. Teniers represents a guard room, where soldiers passed their time between engagements. The armor and weapons on the floor or leaning against the wall are those of ordinary soldiers, not officers. The officer's clothing identifies him as from Poland or Hungary, both countries allied with the Habsburgs.