1. TURNING POINTS IN THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV (1643-1715)
: The Fronde
1661: The King declares on the death of Cardinal Mazarin that he will henceforth be his own chief minister
: Franco-Dutch War
1685: Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
: War of the League of Augsburg (9 Years’ War)
: War of Spanish Succession (famine & bread riots in 1709/10)
1715: Death of the Sun King; succeeded by his great-grandson Louis XV

2. Cardinal Mazarin, Anne of Austria, and King Louis XIII
Portrait of Anne of Austria by Peter Rubens, painted from 1621 to 1625, now in the Louvre, and of Louis XIII by Philippe de Champaigne, painted around 1635, now in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
SOURCE for both:
Cardinal Mazarin ( ), the Italian-born diplomat who succeeded Cardinal Richelieu as chief minister in 1642.
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3. MAJOR UPRISINGS OF THE FRONDE, 1648-53
The movement began in Paris with a popular uprising to free judges imprisoned for questioning the legality of Mazarin’s new taxes. By 1650 the movement was dominated by princes who had quarreled with Richelieu and Mazarin.
Major centers of rebellion at the time of the Fronde, The rebellion began in Paris with a popular uprising to free prominent judged imprisoned by order of Cardinal Mazarin for challenging the legality of his new taxes. That rebellion was quelled in 1649, but the "princely Fronde" began in 1650, when the top ranking military commanders of France, the Prince of Conde' and Marshal Turenne, broke with Cardinal Mazarin.
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4. Medallion of Cardinal Mazarin ( ), struck around 1660; he is shown as Hercules sharing the burden of the globe with Atlas/Louis XIV
France, ca.1660, Bronze (cast), 96 mm
Obv: Bust of Mazarin (r) IVLIVS . S. R. E. CARD. MAZARINVS F.C.A.G.A.E
Rev: Hercules takes the burden of the world from Atlas HI DVO ILLE SOLVS
Ref: Museum Mazzuchelliani II, CXV, 1: T.N. LXVI, 1
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Jules Cardinal Mazarin ( ) was the first minister of France after Cardinal Richelieu's death in During the early years of King Louis XIV, he completed Richelieu's work of establishing France's supremacy among the European powers and crippling the opposition to the power of the monarchy at home. The reverse of this medal alludes to the fact that Mazarin (Hercules, at left) took much of the burden of the affairs of state from Louis XIV (Atlas, at right).

5. The young Louis XIV, dressed as “The Sun,” dances in the “Ballet de la Nuit” (1653)
Louis XIV, dancing as the Sun in the "Ballet de la Nuit," composed for the court in 1653 by Isaac de Benserade. Louis XIV loved music and the dance and continued until well into middle age to star in ballet performed at court; the great nobles of the realm competed for the honor of dancing beside him. Print from the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, Cabinet des Estempes.
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6. Jean Nocret, “The Family of Louis XIV” (1670)
NOCRET, Jean (b. 1617, Nancy, d. 1672, Paris), “The Family of Louis XIV” (1670), now in the Château de Versailles. The members of the royal family are represented as mythological gods and goddesses around the Sun King. Standing behind the King is the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria; seated between them, her niece, the current Queen, Maria Theresa, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain, who married Louis XIV soon after the conclusion of the Peace of the Pyrenees in She points to the Dauphin, the heir she produced soon after the wedding and recipient of all that excellent advice in the King's memoirs. On the left is the King's brother, Monsieur, and his wife, Henrietta of England.
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7. Louise de la Valliere (1644-1710) and her royal children
Portrait of Louise de la Valliere ( ) and her two children with King Louis XIV. She arrived at court in 1661 at the age of 17 as a lady-in-waiting to the wife of the King's brother. He soon fell in love with her, and she bore him five children altogether, three of whom died in infancy. The King openly acknowledged their relationship in 1666, when his mother died, but he lost interest in her soon thereafter and turned his attentions to the beautiful and witty Marquise de Montespan. The daughter you see here, Marie-Anne, married the Prince of Conti and lived into her 70s, but the boy died as an adolescent.
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8. The Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707), the King’s mistress from 1667 until 1680
Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart ( ), who married the Marquis de Montespan in 1663 and became the King's mistress in May 1667 (contemporary painting by an unknown artist). She too met the King after becoming a lady-in-waiting to the wife of his brother. She was reputed to be the greatest beauty of the age, and to have the most caustic wit. She remained the King's acknowledged mistress for twelve years and bore him seven children, but was then replaced in the king's affections by the woman she hired as their tutor, Madame de Maintenon.
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9. Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1666)
LEFEBVRE, Claude
(b. 1637, Fontainebleau, d. 1675, Paris)
Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
1666
Oil on canvas, 118 x 113 cm
Château de Versailles, Versailles
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Colbert was the controller general of finance (from 1665) and secretary of state for the navy (from 1668) under King Louis XIV of France. He carried out the program of economic reconstruction that helped make France the dominant power in Europe.

10. Pierre Patel, “View of the Chateau de Versailles” in 1668, as the King’s coach arrives
Pierre Patel, "View of the Chateau de Versailles" (oil painting from 1668, now in the Museum of the Chateau de Versailles). Detail of the king's coach arriving to the accompaniment of military music and French and Swiss Guards. This is the small palace inherited by Louis XIV.
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11. Van der Meulen, “Versailles under Construction” (1669)
MEULEN, Adam Frans van der (b. 1632, Bruxelles, d. 1690, Paris),
“Construction of the Château de Versailles” (1669)
Oil on canvas, 103 x 138,5 cm; Royal Collection, London
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Here we get some sense of the vast and enormously costly building project launched by King Louis XIV in 1669; only in 1682 was enough progress made for the court to reside their full time. When finally completed, about 1,000 courtiers with 4,000 attendants lived in the palace itself. About 14,000 soldiers and servants were quartered in annexes and in the town, which was founded in 1671 and had 30,000 inhabitants when Louis XIV died in Even Louis XIV's most violent enemies imitated the decoration of his palace at Versailles. In 1667 Charles Le Brun was appointed director of the Gobelins factory, which had been bought by the King, and Le Brun himself prepared designs for various objects, from the painted ceilings of the Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) at Versailles to the metal hardware for a door lock.

12. P.D. Martin, “Chateau of Versailles,” 1722
Chateau of Versailles, painted in 1722 by P.D. Martin (from Perouse de Montclos, HISTOIRE DE L'ARCHITECTURE FRANCAISE, fig. 312). By the time Louis XIV died, the enormous palace housed 1,000 courtiers, who were attended by 20,000 servants and guards. Construction was still underway.

13. Charles Riviere, “View of the Gardens of Versailles” (and the rear of the palace)
Riviere, Charles
Title: Versailles, perspective view of the Chateau & Gardens
Country or Provenance: France, Versailles
Accession Number:
SOURCE: Grinnell Finearts Database

14. Palace of Versailles, Entrance

15. The King’s Apartments, Palace of Versailles

16. Palace of Versailles: The Hall of Mirrors
Architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart; celing paintings and decoration by Charles Le Brun; completed around 1680 as the antechamber to the throne room.
SOURCE: Grinnell Finearts Database

17. Charles Le Brun, “Entry of Alexander into Babylon” (ca. 1664)
LE BRUN, Charles (b. 1619, Paris, d. 1690, Paris), "Entry of Alexander into Babylon," ca
Oil on canvas, 450 x 707 cm; Musée du Louvre, Paris.
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Louis XIV was fascinated by the life of Alexander the Great, so Le Brun accordingly executed four colossal canvasses depicting episodes from that great conqueror's life between 1662 and They depicted the Passage of the Granicus, the Battle of Argela, the Entry of Alexander into Babylon, and Alexander and Porus. Like so many Herculean undertakings, the paintings impressed everybody by their sheer size. Later history has not been kind to them, but even so, tremendous energy burst out of every corner of these pictures, some of which are more than twelve metres long. The source, without any doubts, is Rubens.

18. Charles Le Brun, “The Decision of Louis XIV to Make War on the Dutch Republic in 1671” (study for the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles)
LE BRUN, Charles (b. 1619, Paris, d. 1690, Paris)
“The Resolution of Louis XIV to Make War on the Dutch Republic in 1671”
Oil on canvas, 72 x 98 cm; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Auxerrre
SOURCE:
At the end of the 1670s Le Brun began the most exacting of his tasks - the decoration of the ceiling of the Galerie des Glaces at Versailles. Many of the sketches for the main compositions survive, and allow an assessment, on a small scale, of his inventiveness, which is usually lost in the vastness of the decorated ensemble. A typical example is The Resolution of Louis XIV to Make War on the Dutch Republic, depicting an event which was to have enormous repercussions (Louis XIV was eventually defeated by the Dutch). The handling, rapid and sure, is taken almost completely from Rubens, and yet the composition is original and dramatic, and demonstrates that Le Brun conformed to the grand tradition of Rubens and Pietro da Cortona in Italy. His work at Versailles shows that he belongs among the great decorative painters on the grounds of his energy, originality and appropriateness of setting, but even in France his reputation is not as high as it should be.

19. Louis XIV leads his army into the Netherlands in 1672
PARROCEL, Joseph (b. 1646, Brignoles, d. 1704, Paris), "The Crossing of the Rhine by the Army of Louis XIV, 1672" (painted in 1699). Oil on canvas, 234 x 164 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
SOURCE:
Parrocel was a specialist in battle scenes. He was received into the Academy in 1676 with his Siege of Maastricht (Versailles).

20. THE MODEST TERRITORIAL GAINS ACHIEVED BY LOUIS XIV
Source: WESTERN CIVILIZATION: BEYOND BOUNDARIES, 5th edn., p. 499.

21. Elias Hainzelmann, “Louis the Great” (engraving, 1686): Ruler of the world, protector of the Church
"Louis the Great," conquering heresy,
engraving by Elias Hainzelmann,
1686
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22. “THE NEW MISSIONARIES, dispatched by order of Louis the Great throughout the Kingdom of France to return the heretics to the Catholic faith” (1686)
"THE NEW MISSIONARIES, dispatched by order of Louis the Great throughout the Kingdom of France to return the heretics to the Catholic faith."
Popular satirical cartoon from 1686 commenting on the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
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23. William of Orange, Stadholder of the Netherlands, who landed in England with 20,000 troops in November 1688
Willem Wissing, King William III of England and the Netherlands, painted in 1677 while still just Stadholder of the Netherlands.
Source

24. After the “Glorious Revolution,” King William III ( ) and Queen Mary forged an anti-French alliance of England, the Netherlands, and Austria
Double portrait of King William and Queen Mary
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25. The expansion of Austria, Russia, and Brandenburg-Prussia around 1700
Source: WESTERN CIVILIZATION: BEYOND BOUNDARIES, 5th edn., p. 509.

26. Louis XIV in battle armor (1696)
Hyacinthe Rigaud, Portrait of Louis XIV in armor, 1694 (oil painting now in the Louvre).
Rigaud was a student of Le Brun and dedicated himself entirely to portraits of distinguished courtiers. His goal was to emphasize the lofty social rank of his sitters by focusing attention on their upright bearing, expressive gestures, and exquisite costumes.
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27. Royal Chapel, Palace of Versailles (completed in 1710)
The Royal Chapel in the Palace of Versailles, built between 1699 and 1710 by Robert de Cotte & Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and dedicated to St. Louis.
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This was the fifth and last chapel built in the palace. The king attended mass here almost every day, and this is where victories were celebrated and the Princes of the Blood got married. The main balcony, just above where the photographer is standing, was reserved for the royal family.

28. Ceiling of the Royal Chapel: The Holy Trinity

29. Hyacinthe Rigaud, “Louis XIV” (1701)
This portrait of the “Sun King” hangs in the Louvre.

30. OUTCOME OF THE WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION: Austria acquires the Spanish Netherlands (Belgium), and the Bourbons acquire Naples
Europe at the time of the death of Louis XIV.
SOURCE: Hammond, _World History Atlas_, revised edn (Maplewood, New Jersey, 1987), H-26.

31. Louis & Antoine le Nain, “Peasant Family” (ca. 1640)
LE NAIN brothers
(b. 1598/1610, Laon, d. Louis and Antoine: 1648, Mathieu: 1677, Paris)
Peasant Family
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 113,3 x 159,5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
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This painting is the collective work of Louis and Antoine Le Nain. The three brothers produced their work collectively. This is supported by the fact that they never used any other form of signature but 'Le Nain', as a kind of studio stamp. It explains the existence of complex pictures where brilliant passages of paintings are to be found alongside mediocre areas executed by assistants or pupils. But there are also others of a high level where the brothers worked alone or with each other, without help from outsiders.
The Louvre has two paintings depicting peasant families by Le Nain, one of them is an austere and virile work. This one, however, strikes a note of profound intimacy, a warmth of spirit, like the atmosphere of a domestic festivity.
The general harmony of greys and browns is in keeping with the spirit of austerity reigning in French painting in the time of Louis XIII. Unlike the Flemings, who made their scenes of rustic life an occasion for depicting the unleashing of the coarsest sensual instincts, Louis Le Nain saw in the peasant soul a profound gravity, even solemnity; the expression of a life of toil whose hard realities have bestowed on it a sense of its own dignity. The paint quality is flowing and rich, with touches of impasto used not simply for effect, as in the work of Frans Hals, but giving proof of a sensitive brush, searching out the modelling with attention and feeling.
Several early copies give evidence of the paintings reputation.

32. Le Nain brothers, “Blacksmith at his Forge” (1640s)
(b. 1598/1610, Laon, d. Louis and Antoine: 1648, Mathieu: 1677, Paris)
Blacksmith at His Forge -
Oil on canvas, 69 x 57 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
SOURCE:
The smith himself looks towards the spectator as if he has been disturbed by the artist and asked to hold the pose while a photograph is taken. The other figures look in different directions, exactly as a group of people will do today when caught unawares by the camera. Especially perceptive is the depiction of the seated old man on the right - he is staring into space exactly as many old people tend to do, particularly when they are preoccupied with something which is not part of the event in front of them. The gazes of the three children are alert but lacking the concentration of the adults. Thus the painters of this picture have observed, for the first time in French painting, a 'slice of life'.
The depiction of the better-off peasantry is interesting from a sociological point of view because there are so few renderings of that class, but, even more important, it showed that masterpieces could be produced from humble material. This realistic treatment of 'low' subjects was not to be found again in French art until Courbet in the nineteenth century.

33. Le Nain brothers, “Smokers in an Interior” (1643)
(b. 1598/1610, Laon, d. Louis and Antoine: 1648, Mathieu: 1677, Paris)
Smokers in an Interior
1643
Oil on canvas, 117 x 137 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
SOURCE:
Not all the Le Nain genre scenes depict peasants. Some of them show middle-class sitters, even rarer in art than the depiction of the poor. It is one of these larger 'bourgeois compositions' which admits the Le Nain brothers into that small group of painters capable of creating a masterpiece. This is the Smokers in an Interior in the Louvre, dated Its technique must have been learned during the painting of the Forge, but the brushwork is far more precise. The composition is much less original, being closer to the type familiar from the Dutch. The figures are grouped round a table illuminated by a solitary candle, and the figure on the left has fallen asleep at the table.
In this painting it seems that the depiction of low life - here middle-class men smoking in an interior - has risen beyond its normal pictorial limitations to create a masterpiece which is, perforce, unexpected. While Nicolas Poussin was obsessed with the concept of beauty and with the need to be able to paint exactly what he thought, here the painter's desire arises from an opposite need, the need to observe. Each of the models appears to be a portrait, although it is difficult to explain why the sitters should have chosen to be depicted with such casualness. There is no clue to the possibility of a confraternity, although the curious emblems on the carpet on the table could be symbols of some secret society. The eerie quality of the picture is emphasized by the fall of the shadows on the faces and by the way in which the figures stare into space just like the peasants in other pictures and the seated figure on the right has all the appearance of being under the influence of some drug.
There is no satisfactory explanation for such a picture; it is as if this trio of painters, observers of a small fragment of their times, never intended the meanings of their pictures to be divined.