Louis XIV (1663): Artwork and History

Louis XIV (1663) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Robert Nanteuil French, 1623-1678.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This portrait was one of several prints of Louis XIV that Nanteuil engraved based on a pastel that he composed from life. Nanteuil frequently brought friends to entertain his models as they sat, giving his portraits a relaxed, natural look, but Louis XIV was a reputedly difficult subject who detested sitting for extended periods. Nonetheless, Nanteuil would engrave 12 portraits of the king, and draw him in person on more than one occasion. As his career progressed, Nanteuil’s prints grew more painterly in quality, with subtler chiaroscuro effects, evident here in the carefully hatched shadows behind Louis XIV.

Object facts

• Title: Louis XIV
• Date: 1663
• Artist attribution: Robert Nanteuil French, 1623-1678
• Place of origin: France
• Medium: Engraving on paper
• Dimensions: Plate: 40.5 × 33.4 cm (16 × 13 3/16 in.); Sheet: 51.5 × 40.1 cm (20 5/16 × 15 13/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1923.1655

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. J. J. Glessner and the Avery Fund

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.