Wellington and Blucher meeting after the Battle of Waterloo, 1815

Coloured line engraving by Lamb Stocks after Daniel Maclise, published by Fine Art Reproduction Company Limited.

The original painting by Royal Academician Daniel Maclise, painted in 1861, was displayed in the Royal Gallery at the Palace of Westminster.

The Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815 was the last great battle of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and marked the end of France's attempt to dominate Europe. The Allied commander, the Duke of Wellington, called the battle 'the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life'. The outcome of the battle was in doubt until late afternoon when Blücher's Prussians arrived in force and broke through Napoleon's right flank. The painting depicts a meeting of the two commanders in the aftermath of battle at the 'La Belle Alliance' tavern, the foreground littered with dead and wounded.