Editing Louis XIV (section)

===Evolution of royal portraiture===
[[File:Le roi gouverne par lui-même.jpg|thumb|left|''Le roi gouverne par lui-même'', ''modello'' for the central panel of the ceiling of the [[Hall of Mirrors]] {{Circa|1680}} by [[Charles Le Brun|Le Brun]], (1619–1690)]]
Over his lifetime, Louis commissioned numerous works of art, including over 300 formal portraits. The earliest portrayals of Louis already followed the pictorial conventions of the day in depicting the child king as the majestically royal incarnation of France. This idealisation of the monarch continued in later works, which avoided depictions of the effect of smallpox that Louis contracted in 1647. In the 1660s, Louis began to be shown as a Roman emperor, the god [[Apollo]], or [[Alexander the Great]], as can be seen in many works of [[Charles Le Brun]], such as sculpture, paintings, and the decor of major monuments.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

Grandiose images of the king in allegorical or mythological guises followed conventions of historiated portraiture that had been common since the Renaissance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neuman |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRRplwEACAAJ&q=Front+cover+image+for+Baroque+and+Rococo+Art+and+Architecture+Baroque+and+Rococo+Art+and+Architecture++neuman |title=Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture |date=2013 |publisher=Pearson Education |isbn=978-0-205-94951-9 |pages=317 |language=en}}</ref> There is no better illustration of this than [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]]'s 1701 [[Portrait of Louis XIV|Portrait of Louis{{Nbsp}}XIV]], where a 63-year-old Louis appears to stand on a set of unnaturally young legs.{{Sfn|Perez|2003|pp=62–95}}

Rigaud's portrait exemplified the height of royal portraiture during Louis's reign. Although Rigaud crafted a credible likeness of Louis, the portrait was neither meant as an exercise in realism nor to explore Louis's character. Certainly, Rigaud was concerned with detail and depicted the king's costume with great precision, down to his shoe buckle.<ref>See also {{Cite journal |last=Schmitter |first=Amy M. |date=2002 |title=Representation and the Body of Power in French Academic Painting |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=399–424 |doi=10.1353/jhi.2002.0027 |issn=0022-5037 |jstor=3654315 |s2cid=170904125}}</ref>

However, Rigaud intended to glorify the monarchy. Rigaud's original, now housed in the [[Louvre]], was originally meant as a gift to Louis's grandson, [[Philip&nbsp;V of Spain]]. However, Louis was so pleased with the work that he kept the original and commissioned a copy to be sent to his grandson. That became the first of many copies, both in full and half-length formats, to be made by Rigaud, often with the help of his assistants. The portrait also became a model for French royal and imperial portraiture down to the time of [[Charles X of France|Charles&nbsp;X]] over a century later. In his work, Rigaud proclaims Louis's exalted royal status through his elegant stance and haughty expression, the royal regalia and throne, rich ceremonial fleur-de-lys robes, as well as the upright column in the background, which, together with the draperies, serves to frame this image of majesty.