Louis XIV

Art Historical Context

Step into the grandeur of 17th-century France withLouis XIV*, a striking engraving by Pierre Louis van Schuppen in 1662. This portrait captures the young Sun King at age 24, during the early years of his absolute monarchy, a time when Louis XIV was consolidating power and projecting an image of divine-right authority. Produced just two decades after his ascension to the throne, the print exemplifies how visual propaganda helped immortalize the monarch's regal presence across Europe. Van Schuppen, a skilled Flemish engraver working in Paris, employed the meticulous technique of engraving on paper—incising lines into a metal plate with a burin, inking it, and pressing it onto paper to create fine, durable reproductions. Measuring 27.1 × 19.2 cm on the plate (with a larger 33.2 × 24.3 cm sheet), this intimate yet impactful medium allowed royal imagery to be widely disseminated affordably, far beyond the elite courts. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department, it highlights engraving's role in shaping cultural memory and the era's artistic innovations in printmaking. A testament to Baroque opulence, it invites you to ponder the artistry behind power.