The Battle of Cassel on 23rd August 1328

Hendrik Scheffer's The Battle of Cassel on 23rd August 1328 (1837) depicts the crushing defeat of Flemish commune rebels by the French royal army under Philip VI — one of the key engagements in the long struggle between French monarchy and Flemish urban autonomy in the fourteenth century. Painted for the Galerie des Batailles at Versailles, it forms part of Louis-Philippe's ambitious project to narrate French history through monumental battle painting, framing the Orléanist monarchy as inheritor of a long and continuous national story.

The composition follows the conventions of the Versailles battle paintings: a broad panorama with identifiable commanders prominently placed, cavalry clash at centre, and the chaos of battle receding into distance. Scheffer uses a cool, metallic palette suited to medieval armour, with the drama concentrated in the foreground melee.