Adam Frans van der MEULEN (Brussels 1632 - Paris 1690) Battle scenes Pair of parquet panels 16.5 x 22.5 cm Signed lower center A. F. V. MEVLEN. F. Provenance : Collection of Cardinal Fesch in 1845; Fesch sale 1841, no. 320 and 321; Fesch sale, Rome (Me George), March 17-18, 1845, no. 145-320 and no. 146-321; Collection of Marquis Alphonse d'Aoust (1819-1909); By descent to the current owner. He grew up and trained in Brussels in the studio of Peeter Snayers. Early in his career, in the 1650s, he received his first commissions, mainly from Brussels magistrates and notables. But, like many of his colleagues, he also produced small paintings for a class of art lovers, made up of middle-class people seeking to decorate their homes, which had been developing since the 16th century. Our two paintings are part of this type of production. Unlike the commissions, these small formats do not depict historical events, nor are they mythological or religious. They are genre paintings, most often depicting imaginary battles, convoys or encampments, whose purpose was to entertain and decorate. Dezallier d'Argenville reports that the artist adorned "the best cabinets with small, well-touched landscape paintings enriched with war subjects". Van der Meulen probably worked probably worked for Flemish merchants who organized the production of these small paintings and sold them in various countries.