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The Siege of La Rochelle

Israel Henriet

1629

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Baroque Baroque History Painting

Dominant colour

The Siege of La Rochelle is a 1629 by Israel Henriet, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Israel Henriet
When & what style?: 1629 · Baroque
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This is a giant set of six black-and-white prints showing a long, crowded coastline packed with ships, soldiers, and buildings. The scenes look chaotic but organized—rows of tents, lines of people, and boats clustered near the shore. At the top, fancy decorative text reads "OBSIDIO RVPELLAE," and the sides have maps with tiny labels. These prints were made to document a real siege, where one army surrounded a city to cut off supplies. The artist packed in so many details that you can almost count the soldiers and ships. If you like this kind of detailed, busy scene, look up Baroque.