A rare contemporary depiction from the Nine Years’ War (1689–1697), this painting has been hailed as Jan Wyck’s masterpiece. It is also unfinished, possibly left incomplete on the artist’s death, and providing an interesting insight into the way he constructed his paintings.

Situated at the confluence of the Rivers Sambre and Meuse to the east of Charleroi in the Low Countries, the city of Namur occupied a key position for control of the Austrian Netherlands. Previously fortified by the great Dutch engineer, Baron Menno van Coehoorn (1641–1704), Namur was considered to be one of the strongest citadels. However, during the course of the Nine Years' War it fell to the French in 1692 and was recaptured by the allied army of William III in 1695, despite having been extensively improved in the interim by the great engineer Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban (1633–1707).