Paintings depicting hunting scenes, royal excursions and processions occupied a prominent place in the work of Adam Frans van der Meulen, one of the best-known artists at the court of Louis XIV. The Journey of Louis XIV may be one of the first works produced in France after this native of Brussels arrived there in 1664. The King is shown seated in a carriage without any retinue. "On hunts, excursions and to spend the night at Marly or Meudon he travelled alone in the carriage. He had no desire for the conversations that retainers might conduct in his presence in the carriage," the Duke of Saint-Simon, a noted memoirist, wrote. The painting is remarkable for the faultless clarity of composition and soft treatment of colour. The jeweller-like precision and attention to minutiae in the dress of the horsemen and the uniforms of the musketeers, the details of the harness and the decoration of the carriage are typical features of Van der Meulen's style in general.