Courtois painted imaginary as well historical battles drawn from various episodes of the Thirty Years' War. Draw from his own firsthand experience of wartime facts and techniques, he succeeded in giving his visual representations the impression of 'truthfulness'. Regarded as one of the great battle painters of the 17th century, he was referred to as the 'Raphael of battles' and the 'Prince Eugene of painters'. Prince Eugene was one of the most successful military commanders in modern European history. His paintings of battles were so popular that no large or small collection of his time was without a work by his hand. Courtois succeeded in creating for viewers the impression that they were actually in the thick of the battle. In Courtois' time people took great pride in the military successes of their armies. Battle paintings were, however, not only intended to celebrate national military victories. They also aimed to allow the viewer to witness the whole range of drama played out in a battle, from the brilliance of individual maneuvres and actions to the bloody consequences to the participants. Courtois relied on all his dramatic skills and compositional devices to create exciting scenes.