FRENCH, LATE 17TH CENTURY

Details

A MARBLE MEDALLION PORTRAIT OF LOUIS XIV
FRENCH, LATE 17TH CENTURY
In a giltwood frame
28 1/8 in. (71.5 cm.) high; 37 3/8 in. (95 cm.) high, overall

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Souchal, French sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries, The reign of Louis XIV, Paris, 1981.

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Donald Johnston

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Lot Essay

Many French sculptors executed portrait medallions of Louis XIV in the 17th century. Most of them, including the present lot, take as a model the portraits of the king by François Girardon and especially the portrait relief he made in 1690 for the Hôtel de Ville in Troyes (Souchal, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 57, fig. 68). In the present relief the king is depicted wearing armour and a cravat but some details differ slightly such as the decoration of the breastplate on the right shoulder and the drapery.

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