Louis XIV, Versailles, and the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, 1648-1715
Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, c. 1701
Flag of the Kingdom of France, 1365-1792. France had no official flag until the French Revolution and various royal flags coexisted during the Ancien Régime. After the end of the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) and the accession of the Bourbons in 1598, the white flag with gold fleur-de-lys was the predominate flag of France under the Bourbon kings until 1792 when the French Revolution abolished the monarchy.
Flag of the Kingdom of France, 1365-1794. The blue flag with gold fleur-de-lys signifies the monarchy’s hereditary origins going back to 987, the founding of the Capetian dynasty.
Flag of the Kingdom of France, 1365-1792
Royal Coat of Arms of France, 1589-1792
Royal Coat of Arms of France, 1589-1792
The royal arms of the Bourbon Kings of France first appeared during the reign of the first Bourbon king, Henry IV of Navarre (reign, 1589-1610). The Bourbon coat of arms combines the traditional blue shield with gold fleur-de-lys—the arms of the Kingdom of France dating to the 13th century— and the red and gold shield of the Kingdom of Navarre, the region in northern Spain bordering Aquitaine in France, and ruled by Henry IV. The union of the two arms indicates the union of the two kingdoms as a result of Henry IV becoming king. The arms includes the collar of the Order of the Holy Spirit. This Order, also known as the Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit, was an order of chivalry under the French Monarchy. Members of the order had to be Roman Catholic, and had to demonstrate degrees of nobility. The blue ribbon on top with Montjoie refers to the historic battle cry supposedly used under Charlemagne (c. 800). The other blue ribbon with Saint-Denis refers to the 12th and 13th centuries when Montjoie was extended to Montjoie SaintDenis in reference to the battle standard, which was originally kept in the Abbey Church of SaintDenis, Paris. The Basilica of Saint-Denis served as the royal necropolis from 639 to 1789. The descendants of Henry IV—Louis XIII and Louis XIV—continued the feudal values of chivalry and martial virtue associated with medieval France.
Flag of the Kingdom of France, 1365-1792
Louis XIV wears an ornate collar with the Order of the Holy Spirit, a religious institution of knighthood, denoting the Divine Right of Kings.
Order of the Holy Spirit The Order of the Holy Spirit was an order of chivalry under the French monarchy. Henry III founded the Order in 1578 to honor a small number of powerful princes and nobles, but the membership of the Order increased dramatically due to the pressures of the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598). The new Order was dedicated to the Holy Spirit to commemorate Henry III’s inheritance of the throne of France in 1574. The Order was a fellowship of knights that imitated the military orders of the Crusades. Yet, by the 15th century, orders of chivalry emphasized the knightly virtues of honor, courtly love, courtesy, and less the martial aspects of the tradition involving the aristocratic warrior codes of gallantry, individual training, and service to others. The Bourbon kings of France in the 17th and 18th centuries continued the Order to perpetuate feudal institutions and sanctify the Divine Right of Kings. During the French Revolution, the Order of the with all other chivalric Holy Spirit was officially abolished along orders from the Ancien Régime. The badge of the Order is a gold Maltese cross with white borders; each of the eight points ends in a gold ball and with a gold fleur-de-lys between each adjacent pair of arms. At the center of the cross, a white dove surrounded by green flames descends with wings spread and head pointed downward, symbolizing the descent of the Holy Spirit. The Order was attached to a collar with links of gold fleur-de-lys alternating with links consisting of a white enameled letter “H,” referencing the founder of the Order, Henry III. The enameled “H”s are crowned on three sides with identical gold French crowns, or alternately with a trophy of weapons. Hyacinthe Rigaud’s Louis XIV prominently displays the Order of the Holy Spirit to signify Louis XIV as the Sovereign and Grand Master of the Order and sanctify his divine right to govern France as absolute ruler.
Louis XIV displays with his right hand the Scepter of Henry IV, a gold baton turned upside down with a fleur-de-lys crowned on the top end, denoting the monarchy’s absolute political authority stemming from the House of Bourbon. Rigaud locates immediately behind the scepter the royal crown of the Bourbons, signifying supreme hereditary kingship. Resting horizontally on the blue cushion with gold fleur-de-lys, Rigaud depicts the ivory Hand of Justice, symbolizing the monarchy’s supreme legal authority. The ceremonial sword with inlaid gemstones refers to the coronation sword of Charlemagne, symbolizing protective military authority of the French state. At the base of the column behind the cushion, Rigaud depicts a carved relief with the image of the ancient Greek goddess Themis, who holds a sword and scale of justice. She personifies divine order, law, and custom. As an embodiment of “good counsel” in legal matters, Themis reminds viewers that divine law is timeless, and is given in modern times in the name of the King of France, Louis XIV.
Pierre Patel, View of Versailles from the Avenue de Paris, c. 1662
Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, 1678-84 Â
Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, 1678-84 Â
Charles Le Brun, Resolution Made to Make War On the Dutch, 1671, Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, 1681-84
Charles Le Brun, Resolution Made to Make War On the Dutch, 1671, Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, 1681-84, detail Â
Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Hall of War, Palace of Versailles, 1678-86
Antoine Coysevox, Triumph of Louis XIV, Hall of War, Palace of Versailles, 1678-87
Antoine Coysevox, Triumph of Louis XIV, Hall of War, Palace of Versailles, 1678-87
Pierre Mignard, Equestrian Portrait of Louis XIV Crowned by Victory, c. 1665
Antoine Coysevox, Triumph of Louis XIV, Hall of War, Palace of Versailles, 1678-87
Equestrian Portrait of Marcus Aurelius, c. 180 CE Roman Imperial
Antoine Coysevox, Triumph of Louis XIV, Hall of War, Palace of Versailles, 1678-87
Alexander the Great as Helios, c. 325 BCE, Greek Hellenistic
Gianlorenzo Bernini, Louis XIV, 1665
Alexander the Great as Helios, c. 325 BCE, Greek Hellenistic
Antoine Coysevox, Clio Writing the History of Louis XIV, Hall of War, Palace of Versailles, 1678-87 Â
Charles Le Brun, Self-Portrait, 1683-84
Charles Le Brun, Triumphal Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon, 1665
Charles Le Brun, Triumphal Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon, 1665, detail
Nicolas Poussin, Self-Portrait, 1649
Nicolas Poussin, Death of Germanicus, 1627
Nicolas Poussin, Holy Family on the Steps, 1648
Peter Paul Rubens, The Holy Family with Saint Anne, c. 1630
Nicolas Poussin, Holy Family on the Steps, 1648 Â Peter Paul Rubens, The Holy Family with Saint Anne, c. 1630
Jan Steen, Prayer Before the Meal, c. 1667-71
Nicolas Poussin, Holy Family on the Steps, 1648
Jan Steen, Prayer Before the Meal, c. 1667-71
Jacob Van Ruisdael, View of Haarlem from the Dunes of Overseen, c. 1670
Willem Claesz Heda, Still Life, 1634
The Poussinistes versus the RubĂŠnistes, 1671-1715
Nicolas Poussin, Abduction of the Sabine Women, 1633-34
Peter Paul Rubens, Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus, c. 1617
Nicolas Poussin, Abduction of the Sabine Women, 1633-34 Â
Peter Paul Rubens, Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus, c. 1617
Charles Le Brun, Holy Family with the Adoration of the Child, 1655
Charles de La Fosse, Saint Paul Commanding Saint Luke to Accompany Him to Rome, c. 1692