This search will return exact matches only. For best results:
Please note that only low-res files should be uploaded. Any images with overlay of text may not produce accurate results. Details of larger images will search for their corresponding detail.
Drag file here
Upload
Processing search results
Waiting for update..
Error:
Search by Color
Choose your Colors
Add up to 5 colors and slide the dividers to adjust the composition
Add Color Block
Filters
Add keywords to refine your results
Search
Advanced Search
Search Tips
Searching for a particular field
Field
Search term
Example
Asset title
title:
title:pony
Asset title and keywords
~
~pony
Asset description text
description:
description:london
Agency prefix
prfx: or $
prfx:lal or $LAL
Asset id
imageid:
imageid:250297 or imageid:[2500 TO 4000]
Agency name
coll:
coll:history
Medium
medium:
medium:oil
Century
century:
century:20th
Keywords
kw:
kw:dog
Artist name
artist: or ?
artist:monet or ?monet
Artist nationality
??
??French
Creator ID
creatorid:
creatorid:37
Location
loc: or @
loc:exeter or @exeter
Classification
class: or #
class:57 or #57. Use # for unclassified assets
Year
year:
year:1850 or year:[1700 TO 1800]
Metadata Block (Hidden)
Contact us for further help
High res file dimension
Search for more high res images or videos
The Battle of Malplaquet 11 September 1709: Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736) leading troops on...
IMAGE
number
ROC3956372
Image title
The Battle of Malplaquet 11 September 1709: Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736) leading troops on the French redoubts, 1713-14 (oil on plaster)
In 1713 Louis Laguerre was commissioned to decorate the walls of the main hall and the two flanking staircases of Marlborough House, the London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The subject was to be the significant battles of the Spanish Wars of Succession (1701-14); led by the Duke of Marlborough, Britain and the Allies saw victories at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenard (1708) and, less decisively, Malplaquet (1709). The murals were to be 'the only signs of bravura or ornamentation in a house that was otherwise very plain and simple' (John Charlton, Marlborough House, 1978). Laguerre was paid £500 for them. The murals have had a chequered conservation history and parts have been almost entirely repainted.
The staircase to the left of the main central hall (Blenheim Saloon) is decorated with scenes from the battle of Malplaquet (RCINs 408438-40); and a scuffle on the fringes of the battle (RCIN 408441).
Five French redoubts (temporary forts) were erected in the open ground between Sars Wood and nearby Bleron Farm in the period immediately before the Battle of Malplaquet; they were thick enough to be cannon proof, thereby acting as a significant obstacle to advancing Allied infantry and guns. They appear in the background of this composition, with a group of mitre-capped grenadiers advancing towards them; Prince Eugene, in a buff coat and wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, advances towards the right, accompanied by a figure in a blue coat who may be the Dutch Commander, Marshal Overkirk. A figure in a blue uniform with a black fur hat pulls a French standard away from a French soldier. Two women are in the act of stripping a group of dead or wounded soldiers at bottom right – two dead figures, half naked, and one naked one behind them.
Unusually, the figure of Eugene is relegated to the middle ground of Laguerre's composition, as he advances out of the picture plane; as with the death of Colonel Bringfield in the opposite staircase, the focus has been shifted to the more anecdotal, human interest provided by the woman in the process of stripping the dead soldiers at the bottom left, presumably to return or sell their uniforms, which were in and of themselves of value.
The area of the composition marked by the grenadiers has presumably also been partially lost in the service of the staircase. However, a modello for the painting survives at the National Army Museum (NAM. 1973-08-103), and this suggests that the major portion of the top left-hand corner was occupied with sky.