The Grand Attack on Valenciennes

De Loutherbourg painted the British assault on Valenciennes in 1794, documenting the Duke of York's Flanders campaign during the French Revolutionary Wars. The siege of July-August 1793 was an early Allied success against Revolutionary France. De Loutherbourg's theatrical oil technique deployed dramatic chiaroscuro and vivid atmospheric effects—glowing furnace light, moonlight on water, storm-raked sky—that he had developed through his work as a scene designer for David Garrick at Drury Lane.

De Loutherbourg captures the military assault with smoke, cannon fire, and surging troops. The panoramic format and atmospheric battle smoke create a vivid impression of 18th-century siege warfare.