Veuë de la Ville de Besançon, du costé de Dole, et Situation du lieu dans la franche Comté

Book Description

[Paris: published by Van der Meulen, 1685]. Copper engraving, on two joined sheets, by A.F. Baudouin, after Van der Meulen. Titled in French and Latin. 24 x 59 1/2 inches overall. A lively panorama of Besançon and its environs, recalling King Louis XIV's war against Spain of 1667. This excellent view of the capital of the Franche Comté region of France, shows Besançon almost encircled by the river Doubs and overlooked by the surrounding hills. In the foreground is a lively scene of travellers on horseback and on foot. The legend beneath the view includes an extensive index to the various buildings in the city, these are tied in to the index by the inclusion of small numbers engraved on the view. This peaceful scene probably recalls the occupation of Franche Comté in Febuary 1668 by Condé on the orders of the French King Louis XIV. This action was the final act in the War of Devolution waged by Louis in support of his wife's claim to Flanders, hitherto a vassal state of Spain. The imprint notes that the present scene was painted from life by Van der Meulen. Adam Frans Van der Meulen was a landscape and genre painter, who specialized in battle scenes, and his early works, i.e. those from the years before he left for Paris (the earliest dated work is from 1653) are mainly cavalry skirmishes in the manner of his teacher Pieter Snayer. After he moved to Paris, the character of his work changed and became more ceremonial. He now specialized in large topographical views and military scenes and in royal journeys, processions and receptions. His most important task was to accompany the king on his many campaigns during the wars of conquest waged in the 1660s and 1670s against, inter alia the Spanish Netherlands, and as Peintre de conquêtes du roi officially to portray the memorable sieges, battles and conquests of le Roi Soleil in large-scale canvases or cartoons which were later transformed into tapestries. Van der Meulen was born in Brussels, where he was baptised in 1632. In 1646 he was apprenticed to the battle painter Pieter Snayers. In 1651 he became a master in the Guild of St Luke in Brussels but by 1663 he had moved to Paris, where he joined a group of Netherlandish artists associated with the French painter Charles Le Brun (1619-90), who not only was Premier peintre du roi, but also (from 1663) director of the Parisian tapestry manufactory Manufacture royale des Gobelins. Van der Meulen quickly became a protégé of Le Brun, and on his recommendation Van der Meulen was appointed court painter to Louis XIV on 1 April 1664 and at the same time became Le Brun's collaborator in the tapestry manufactory. In 1673 he was accepted as a member of the Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture without any obligation to submit a morceau de réception; in 1681 he became conseiller and in 1686 premier conseiller. He died as a highly esteemed artist in the Hôtel des Gobelins 15 October 1690.

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