Marriage Ceremony at a Military Encampment

Born into a well-established dynasty of painters and engravers, Charles Parrocel was an acclaimed draftsman active in the first half of the eighteenth century. He studied with his father, Joseph Parrocel (1646-1704), as well as with his godfather Charles de La Fosse (1636-1716), and Bon Boullogne (1649-1717), and he trained the next generation of artists in his capacity as Professor at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. The vast majority of Parrocel's graphic oeuvre, which includes some two hundred and fifty known drawings, comprise battle and hunting scenes. In addition to martial scenes, however, he often depicted soldiers at rest surrounded by women and children, and at taverns. Marriage Ceremony at a Military Encampment is one such example, executed with Parrocel's signature precision to detail.