Le Siège de Calais. 9 janvier 1558

This painting depicts the siege of Calais on 9 January 1558. The episode marks the recapture of Calais by the French under Henry II, ending more than two centuries of English presence in this strategic stronghold, which had been held since 1347. The recovery of Calais was a major military and symbolic success for the French monarchy, as it erased one of England’s oldest continental possessions. Painted in 1838, this history painting stages the military grandeur of the national past in the spirit of the great historical commissions of the 19th century.