Picturing Valenciennes: Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg and the Emotional Regulation of British Military Act in the 1790s

The Eighteenth Century Studies Seminar with speaker Professor Philip Shaw (University of Leicester).

This paper discusses British artistic representations of the Battle of Valenciennes, fought on 25 July, 1793, with a particular focus on Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg’s large-scale battle painting The Grand Attack on Valenciennes (1793) and on associated works by the graphic satirist James Gillray. In drawing attention to the collaborative relations between members of the British royal family, painters and print-makers and the establishment press, the paper will show how British military art in the 1790s sought to regulate the emotional responses of civilians to visual representations of the Allied war against revolutionary France.

For further information please contact a member of the Committee:
Gregorio Alonso G.Alonso@leeds.ac.uk; Richard Bellis ph10rtb@leeds.ac.uk; Kerry Bristol K.A.C.Bristol@leeds.ac.uk; Valerie Mainz v.s.mainz@leeds.ac.uk; Peter Maw P.Maw@leeds.ac.uk

See here for more information about The Eighteenth Century Studies Seminar.

Image: The Grand Attack on Valenciennes by the Combined Armies under the Command of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, 25 July 1793 (detail), Philip James de Loutherbourg. Source: Creative Commons.