The Carrousels were at the French court a revival of the medieval art of the tournament. In 1662 the young King Louis XIV dazzled Paris with a Carrousel that remained so famous that when the Dauphin came of age, King Louis XIV thought it necessary to set up another two at Versailles, Le Caroussel des galant Maures in 1685, L'Histoire d'Alexandre in 1688. The present sheet is related to the first of these organized and designed by Béreain. The theme was inspired by La guerre civile de Grenade, an epic written at the end of the previous century by Gérès Peres de Hita, relating the battle between the Abencerages and the Zégris. The event was not only an opportunity of displaying luxurious liveries but also a way of rallying the great houses of the French aristocracy round the young heir. The Dauphin headed one side while the Duc de Bourbon lead the other.
For two years Bérain designed the costumes for these carrousels. Detailed descriptions of these events were published by the print dealer du Ronday. Similar etchings heightened with wash or watercolour were produced after the event to be given to participants of the carrousel. Some were printed on vellum. A similar sheet is at the Bibliothèque de l'Institut, Paris, J. de La Gorce, Berain Dessinateur du Roi Soleil, Paris, 1986, p. 114, illustrated. Others are reproduced in P. Fuhring, Design into Art, Drawings for Architecture and Ornament, The Lodewijk Houthakker Collection, London, 1989, nos. 664-5.