Interpreting the Visual Evidence
The Performance and Display of Absolute Power at the Court of Louis XIV
Historians studying the
history of absolutism
and the court of Louis
XIV in particular have
emphasized the Sun
King's brilliant use of symbols and display
to demonstrate his personal embodiment
of sovereignty. Royal portraits,
such as that painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud
in 1701, vividly illustrate the degree to
which Louis's power was based on a
studied performance. His pose, with his
exposed and shapely calf, was an important
indication of power and virility,
necessary elements of legitimacy for a
hereditary monarch. In the elaborate
rituals of court life at Versailles, Louis often
placed his own body at the center of
attention, performing in one instance as
the god Apollo in a ballet before his assembled
courtiers. His movements
through the countryside, accompanied
by a retinue of soldiers, servants, and
aristocrats, were another occasion for
highly stylized ritual demonstrations of
his quasi-divine status. Finally, of course,
the construction of his palace at Versailles,
with its symmetrical architecture
and its sculpted gardens, was a demonstration
that his power extended over
the natural world as easily as it did over
the lives of his subjects.
Images
Questions for Analysis
1. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d Who was the intended audience for
the king’s performance of absolute
sovereignty? |
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2. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d Who were Louis’s primary competitors
in this contest for eminence
through the performance of power? |
|
3. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d What possible political dangers might
lay in wait for a regime that invested
so heavily in the sumptuous display of
semi-divine authority? |
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