Lot Essay
In his book on the equestrian portraits of Louis XIV, Martin proposes that the present composition, known in only a few other casts in bronze and lead, might be a reduction of a lost monumental bronze originally commissioned by the maréchal de Boufflers from the sculptor Girardon for his future chateau at Cagny. The chateau was never built and the bronze was eventually erected in Beauvais, before being destroyed during the revolution.