Charles LEBRUN (Paris, 1619-1690), atelier de.

Portrait of Louis XIV (1638-1715) in armor. Oil on canvas, oval form (tarnished, old stretcher, restorations). H. 87 x L. 73 cm. In an oval gilded wood frame. H. 107 x W. 93 cm. History King Louis XIV (1638-1715) is portrayed in a three-quarter bust, face to the right, wearing the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Holy Spirit on fleur-de-lys armor. Around his neck, he wears a lace cravat with red ribbon bows; wearing a large dark-brown wig with thick curls that fall to his shoulders, the Sun King sports a fine moustache. He holds his helmet, emblazoned with black feathers, and fixes the viewer with a majestic gaze. The white scarf of the general officers is tied around his waist. Louis XIV poses in front of a gold-thread damask curtain, raised in the corner to reveal a military campaign sky. The personality of the king's face is conveyed by a play of light and shadow that shapes the features, while a slightly more impasto touch is applied to the armor. The king appears as a warlord and protector of the kingdom. A partial reworking of Le Brun's 1682 portrait Our painting is a partial repeat of the portrait "The King in Armor with an Empanached Helmet" painted by Le Brun in 1682; this portrait, which has now disappeared, is known to historians through the partial oval copy of Charles Le Brun's portrait, mentioned without an author's name and deposited since 1936 in the Musée historique de Strasbourg, with the creation date 1682-1700 (ill. 1). Painted in bust form, the king also wears fleur-de-lys armor, on which the blue cordon of the Holy Spirit stands out. The lace jabot and long wig counterbalance any martial severity of a king in his forties. This same effigy of the king is found in an engraving by Edelinck after Charles Le Brun, where the king's portrait is placed on the shield of Religion. The Frontispiece for Abbé de Polignac's thesis, "L'Eglise victorieuse de l'hérésie ou le triomphe de la religion", was completed in June 1686 by Le Brun (ill. 2). The model was engraved by G. Edelinck, but never used for this thesis. One of Le Brun's last royal effigies Twenty years before Rigaud's famous and sumptuous portrait of 1701, which history has retained as an illustration of the reign, court painters focused on portraying Louis XIV as an equestrian (such as René-Antoine Houasse's famous portrait) or martial figure, celebrating the king as the victor of several campaigns after being at war throughout Europe. Among the most prominent painters, Nicolas Mignard (1606-1668) offered several representations of Louis XIV as the god Mars, while Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) painted the king more realistically as a warlord, in armor, portraits that left a strong impression. The 1682 model used in the engraving would therefore be one of the last royal effigies designed by Le Brun, who was ousted by Louvois in favor of Mignard after Colbert's death in 1683. Our painting, which appears to be a studio variant of Charles Le Brun's 1682 portrait, bears witness to one of the artist's last royal effigies. "In the fifteen years between Le Brun and Rigaud, we will find no clear-cut intermediate type in either painting or engraving between that established by Le Brun and the royal figure that Rigaud's brush imposed at the end of the reign". (Lieutenant-Colonel Ch. Maumené and Count Louis d'Harcourt, Iconographie des rois de France, Archives de l'art français, Paris, 1928-1931, p. 16). Related works - After Charles Le Brun, Portrait de Louis XIV, partial copy of the portrait "Le roi en armure avec un casque empanaché" painted by Le Brun in 1682. Château de Versailles, mentioned without author's name, Aile du Nord, second floor, salle des portraits, n°141-150, in the 1837 guide; mentioned in the salle des Portraits (n°146), aile du nord, attiques, in the 1850 inventory; deposited at the Musée historique de Strasbourg on April 2, 1936, inv. MV 3497 (ill. 1). - Gérard EDELINCK (1640-1707), after Le Brun, Sorbonique de l'abbé Melchior de Polignac ("Triomphe de la Religion" or "Triomphe de l'Église") , engraving, circa 1683-1686, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, inv. 6839 (ill. 2). - Atelier de Charles Le Brun, Portrait de Louis XIV, Versailles, Châteaux de Versailles et Trianon, inv. V.2019.65 (ill. 3). - Attributed to Pierre Rabon (1619-1684), after Le Brun, Portrait de Louis XIV à cheval, Douai, Musée de la Chartreuse, 1668, inv. 237 (ill. 4). Literature - E. Bellier de la Chavignerie and L. Auvray, Dictionnaire général des