The Siege of Lille by Louis XIV's Army, 1667

This painting by Adam Frans van der Meulen, official painter of Louis XIV's campaigns, depicts the siege of Lille conducted from 18 to 28 August 1667 during the War of Devolution. The engineer Vauban, wounded in the cheek during the operation, achieved here the first of his great siege victories against a heavily outnumbered Spanish garrison. The capture of Lille, where Louis XIV made a triumphant entry on the very day of the capitulation, marked the high point of a campaign that won France twelve conquered towns in Flanders.