Veue de la Ville et du Siege d'Oudenarde, ou le Roy commanda en personne - (View of the siege of Oudenarde, commanded personally by the King)

From volume "Oeuvres de Vandremeulen [SIC]" (etching and engraving)
AFTER MEULEN, Adam Frans van der; (Dutch; 1632-1690) PUB MEULEN, Adam Frans van der; (Dutch; 1632-1690) CRE BONNART, Robert; (French; 1652-1729)}
French inscr. on plate b.l. "Vue de la ville, et du siège d'Oudenaarde où le roi commande en personne, en l'année 1667. / Dessigne sur le naturel, et peinte pour le Roy tres-Chrestien, par F. Vander Meulen. Se distribue a Paris par l'Auteur, en l'Hostel des Manufactures Royales dit des Gobelins, Et en la rue St. Jacques. Avec privilege du Roy."; Latin inscr. On plate b.r. "Aldenardae a rege obsessae prospectus, anno 1667. / Ad Verum delineatus, et pro Rege Christianissimo, pictus per F. Vander Meulen. Prostat Parisiis Apud Authorem in Regia Artium officina, Vulgo dicla, des Gobelins, Et in via Jacobea, Cum privilegio Regis. 1685." Part of William Hunter's original bequest, this volume contains 112 engravings after paintings made or published by van der Meulen. A Flemish Baroque artist who specialised in horses and landscapes, he was invited to work for Louis XIV as a painter of views of royal castles, hunting scenes, processions, travels and military campaigns. Travelling with the troops and sketching on the battlefield, van der Meulen's fresh style was influential in the development of the relatively new genre of battlescapes. Following the success of his paintings recording the campaigns in Flanders he had many of his works engraved. Most were included in the remarkable collection of engravings known as the Cabinet du Roi originated with Louis XIV's minister J.B. Colbert. By 1670 these engravings were published in volumes and presented as gifts to visiting dignitaries or offered for sale. Hunter's volume, still in its late 17th century binding, is a now rare surviving example. From a series depicting the conquests and battles of Louis XIV grouped at the front of the volume, this print depicts the siege of the town of Oudenaarde in 1667. Part of the Spanish Netherlands, France contested Spain's claim to this region in the War of Devolution and successfully took this and other towns. Van der Meulen used a small group of engravers to copy his works, including his pupil, French draughtsman Robert Bonnart.
51.5 x 129.5 cm, framed. Total: 143 x 55 cm.