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.

Cambrai was beseiged and captured by Louis XIV's forces in April 1677. Van der Meulen drew the city during the campaign and 'le Roy devant Cambray avec sa coeur' (King and his court before Cambray) was one of the 'conquests du Roy' which he painted for the Château de Marly. This original composition (now in the Cambrai Museum) of c. 1680 was frequently repeated, with versions in Schleissheim, Valenciennes and Versailles. This studio version is closest to the one in Valenciennes.