[Bombardement de Lille, Par les Austriens, au Mois de Septemb. 1792.]
Peint par Watteau Pere à Lille. Gravé par Masquelier le J.ne à Paris. [n.d., c.1795.] Etching. proof before title. 505 x 675mm (20 x 26½"), with large margins. Repairs at original centre fold. A large scene of the Austrian army bombarding Lille in 1792, defended by a Republican garrison during the War of the First Coalition. The figure mounted on a whte horse in the foreground is probably Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen (1738-1822), the Habsburg commander. After firing 60,000 shots into the city, the Austrians eventually withdrew to avoid being encircled by a French relief army.
[Ref: 59323] £420.00