A Spy Brought before Louis XIV c.1667-90
Oil on canvas | 65.6 x 97.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405220
-
Adam-François van der Meulen trained in his native Brussels, learning the newly-emerging genre of battle painting under the tuition of Pieter Snayers (1592-1666/7). In 1664, having caught the eye of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683), van der Meulen was summoned to Paris to enter the service of Louis XIV: he spent the next thirty years documenting the Sun King's military victories, often from the field of battle itself, and usually working in close collaboration with Charles Le Brun (1619-1690). He created a genre of spectacular reportage, with panoramic landscapes, picturesque incidents and ceremonial royal presence on the battle field.
The prestige of Louis XIV appealed to George IV (as to almost every other monarch during the 18th Century), but also meant that van der Meulen’s compositions were widely copied. Of the eighteen ‘Van der Meulens’ acquired by George IV (RCINs 404781, 406554, 406956, 403007, 404699-701, 405027, 405056-7, 405172, 405220, 406377, 406465, 406918, 406955 & 406957-8), only three (the first listed above) retain their original attribution. This work does not repeat a known composition of Van der Meulen, but assembles elements from his work.
Provenance
Acquired by George IV; recorded at Warwick House in 1816 (no 509) and 1819 (no 540, valued at 30 guineas); sent to King's Lodge or Cumberland Lodge in Windsor in 1822; in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace in 1841 (no 113)
-
Creator(s)
(framemaker)(nationality)Acquirer(s)
-
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
65.6 x 97.9 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
91.9 x 123.8 x 5.0 cm (frame, external)