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 is one of two routine versions of this famous Van der Meulen composition in the collection (the other is RCIN 405172).

The defeat of the Spanish troops, who were under the command of the Comte de Marsin, took place on 31st August 1667. Louis XIV was chagrined to find that he had arrived too late to play an active part in the victory. He is depicted galloping towards the battle which is raging in the distance. Charles Le Brun used van der Meulen’s original compositions in his designs for the series of fourteen tapestries, woven at the Gobelins, entitled L'Histoire du Roi, which included this episode.