Châtillon, Louis de (1639-1734; French)
14 engravings from Les Grandes Conquêtes du Roi (c.1686-87)
Etching and engraving, various sizes
Gift of George Collins Levey 1879
National Gallery of Victoria (p.183.62-1 etc.)
= Levey gift, cat.nos.135 etc. (see below)
[photo: Mastrick (p.183.161-1)]
Châtillon (also known as Chatillon or Chastillon), assisted Sébastien Le Clerc in the later 1680s with completion of this visual catalogue of Louis XIV’s various victories over the Netherlands, Franche-Comté etc.during the previous decade (for further details, see introductory remarks to Levey gift, cat.134-73).
Véronique Meyer, discussing the plate reproduced here (6. Mastrick), suggests that Leclerc provided not only the engraved border (signed by him at lower left) but also the composition for this and Châtillon’s other images in this series (Meyer in Fuhring 2015). Meyer notes 1688 payments to Châtillon for various plates, including this one, which shows Louis XIV leading the attack on the “hornwork” (fortifications) outside the Dutch city of Maastricht in June 1673.
The individual engravings signed by Châtillon are as follows (listed in the order in which they appear in vol.15 of the Cabinet du roi); titles are followed by NGV acquisition nos., and Levey gift cat.nos.:
Orsoy [p.183.62-1] Levey gift, cat.135
Burick [p.183.69-1] Levey gift, cat.136
Rhinberg [p.183.170-1] Levey gift, cat.137
Doesbourg [p.183.168-1]Levey gift, cat.142
Utrecht [p.183.145-1] Levey gift, cat.143
Prise de l’ouvrage à corne de Mastrick [p.183.161-1] Levey gift, cat.145 (see reproduction above)
Dinant [p.183.167-1] Levey gift, cat.155
Huy [p.183.172-1] Levey gift, cat.156
Aire [p.183.160-1] Levey gift, cat.161
Cambray [p.183.164-1] Levey gift, cat.166
Dehors de la Citadelle de Cambray [p.183.172-1] Levey gift, cat.167
Saint Omer [p.183.171-1] Levey gift, cat.168
Fribourg [p.183.144-1] Levey gift, cat.169
Citadelle d’Ypres [p.183.163-1] Levey gift, cat.173
Refs.
Not listed in NGV 1894 or 1905
The NGV’s online catalogue lists the relevant engravings under both “Lud.de Chastillon” and “Lud.de Chatillon”: see https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/4887/and https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/6532/ (only some of the prints are reproduced; dates provided relate to the military engagements involved)
Cf. Suite et Arrangement (1727), pp.19-20; Duplessis Cabinet du roi (1869), p.17.
For Châtillon, see http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb149715470; (including biographical details); Bénézit 3, p.840; AKL 18 (1998), p.319; and Meyer in Fuhring Kingdom of Images (2015), cat.8, as noted above