Waterloo Battlefield with 3 Monuments – Butte du Lion, Antique Oil Painting

The Battlefield of Waterloo English School, 1800-1899 original oil painting on canvas, framed canvas: 12 x 15.5 inches framed: 17.5 x 20.5 inches condition: overall very good and presentable, some former restoration and signs of retouching visible. provenance: from a private collection A very rare and historically important early painting, depicting the Waterloo battle fields and the three monuments. Very few original early paintings exist of this view and to the collector of Waterloo pieces, it represents an excellent opportunity. To the left, we have the column which was raised in 1817 in memory of Lt-Col. Sir Alexander Gordon, who was killed at Wellington’s side during the battle. The other is a neo-Egyptian pylon erected the following year to the Hanoverian dead of the King’s German Legion, which played such an important role in the conflict. To the far right is the famous landmark known as the Butte du Lion, a huge conical mound of earth, 141 feet high, completed in 1826 and topped by a giant cast-iron lion. Although intended as a symbol of the Allied victory, it was erected by order of the King of the Netherlands to mark the spot where his son, the Prince of Orange, was injured in the Battle of Waterloo. In the foreground, we see farm animals being herded, whilst in the distance specks of figures can be seen, visiting the three memorials. The work is finely painted with intricate detailing throughout. There is the remnant of an old label verso as well as indistinct inscriptions to the reverse. An exceptionally rare work of art and one of historical importance rarely seen outside of a museum or private collection.