Reviews : books : more patriarch than dictator : the symbiotic relationship of Charles Le Brun and Louis XIV

• Published in: Art newspaper (International ed.) 2017-04, Vol.26 (289), p.27-27
• Main Author: Wellington, Robert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0960-6556

Reviews "The sovereign artist : Charles Le Brun and the image of Louis XIV," by Wolf Burchard (Paul Holberton Publishing). Charles Le Brun--the subject of Wolf Burchard's beautifully presented book--had the rare combination of skill and social grace required to succeed in the faction-ridden, bureaucratic climate of Louis XIV's court. He worked for the king nearly half his life, entering Louis XIV's service in 1661 at the age of 42 and working for him until he died at 71 in 1690. His preeminent position among the Sun King's artists is evident from the many offices that he held: he was the king's premiere painter, chancellor, rector, and later director of the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture; and director of the Gobelins manufactory where paintings, tapestries and furniture were made for the royal palaces. With three decades of service to the crown, Le Brun's indelible mark on the history of art is most evident at Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles, where his grand, ebullient style is found everywhere in paintings that he made and the many objects and images produced after his designs by others. [Revised Publication Abstract]