Friday 22 January 2016

Les œuvres

Le roi est mort Versailles Louis XV Madame de Maintenon
There are countless beautiful works of art at the 'the king is dead' exhibition. Above, a 6 year-old marble Louis XV by Antoine Coysevox, looks at what is probably a portrait of Madame de Maintenon, his great-grandfather Louis XIV's secret and morganatic wife of later years (painting by Jean Jouvenet)... Below, the famous equestrian portrait of Louis XIV by René-Antoine Houasse.

Il y a de nombreuses et superbes œuvres d'art à admirer à l'expo "le roi est mort". Ci-dessus, Louis XV âgé de six ans par Antoine Coysevox pose son regard sur ce qui est probablement un portrait de Madame de Maintenon, l'épouse morganatique de son arrière-grand-père Louis XIV (par Jean Jouvenet). Ci-dessous, le célèbre portrait équestre de Louis XIV par René-Antoine Houasse.
Le roi est mort portrait équestre de Louis XIV Houasse
Le roi est mort exhibition Versailles Louis XIV
And finally, below is Louis XIV's death certificate (top of right page)...

Et finalement, ci-dessous, l'acte de décès de Louis XIV (en haut de la page de droite).
Acte décès Louis XIV death certificate

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Fabulous pictures Ciel, such dramatic lighting it looks like a wonderful exhibition...

Revrunner said...

I agree with Geoff--lovely light on the face of that figure in the first photo.

William Kendall said...

Looking at that writing, I'm finding myself thinking of how horrible my handwriting is.

Michelle said...

The portraiture is so fantastic and, through time, our handwriting has dissolved into something only faintly reminiscent of this example.

Oakland Daily Photo said...

You made me look up "morganatic." Boy, did I learn a lot. Now I wonder when the occasion will arise that permits me to use it in conversation...

Dave said...

Morganatic, a new word for me too.

Halcyon said...

He was certainly well-documented in all the art forms. Really neat that you got to see his death certificate.

VP said...

Great photos, love everything, the light is amazing!

Sharon said...

I love that equestrian portrait. I can see that there were a lot of works of art to enjoy at this exhibit.

James said...

I like the lighting and the reflections. Looks like a great exhibition.

Lowell said...

It's like stepping into the past ... seeing it up close and personal.

BTW, if you are nonplussed, could you also say you were ouisubtracted?

RedPat said...

Such a rich environment with those dark walls. The pics are wonderful, Ciel!

EG CameraGirl said...

How amazing the allowed you to take photos!

Wayne said...

How cool are those walls? What a fantastic room! Having researched a lot of family history, I am fascinated by official certificates (birth, baptismal, marriage, death, etc).

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Google should pay you a fee for every time one of us looked up Morganatic Ciel :) A wonderfully moody and dramatic series of images from this exhibition.

Jack said...

VDP, you nailed that first image.

Daryl said...

beautifully done/captured .. and such lovely low lighting