MEULEN, AntonyFrancis van der (1634-1690), was called to Paris about 1666 by Colbert, at the instance of Le Brun, to fill the post of battle painter to Louis XIV. Born in 1634 at Brussels, he had at an early age eclipsed his master Peter Snayers, and the works executed by him for the king of France during the campaigns of Flanders (1667) so delighted Louis that from that date Van der Meulen was ordered to accompany him in all his expeditions. In 1673 he was received into the French Academy, and attained the grade of councillor in 1681. Lodged in the Gobelins, richly pensioned, and loaded with honours, he died at Paris in 1690. Detached works from his hand are to be seen in various collections, but he is best represented by the series of twenty-three paintings, mostly executed for Louis XIV., now in the Louvre. They show that he always retained his Flemish predilections in point of colour, although in other respects his style was modified by that of the French school.

See Mém. inédit. Acad, de Peinture, 1854; Descamps, Vies des Peintres Flamands.