Departure of the Amazons

In the pictureA fortress stands on a rocky hill at the left, and below it mounted women warriors file out along the edge of a forest. Plumed helmets and red banners appear, white horses alternate with brown ones, and blue mountains and clouds lie in the distance. The figures are small, but the armor and the horses' trappings are finely detailed.

BackgroundIt forms a pair with The Triumph of the Amazons in the same museum, painted so that the scene of setting out for battle and the scene after victory could hang side by side. Claude Déruet, court painter to the Duke of Lorraine, liked to paint mounted processions like this, and his experience of depicting equestrian festivals actually held at court shows here as well. The mood is closer to a lavish court procession than to the warrior women of myth.

Puzzle tipThe picture divides into three zones: the fortress and rocks on the left, the blue mountains and sky at upper right, and the group of riders below. The white horses and red banners are landmarks for the group of figures, and the sky pieces can be sorted top from bottom by the brightness of the clouds. Even 300 pieces is manageable.