One of my favourite pictures in the Old Master suctions was this Sebastiaen Vrancx, who painted battle scenes. At first it just seems a violent mess, but > 
> it’s a powerful reflection on civilian suffering during war. The scene begins top left, with armoured troops attacking a village and its church, setting them ablaze and murdering the inhabitants.
The soldiers chase fleeing residents, and seize their belongings.
But then from the castle on the right of the painting emerge a band of locals to defend the village.
Some have weapons, but not all.
Hand to hand combat begins.
A soldier who has raped a woman and killed her husband is attacked.
The most emphatic detail shows us the villagers’ final victory, and where the sympathies of Vrancx - who lived through the 80 years war in Flanders - really lay.
