[classical music w/Harpsichord]
Male Narrator This is a later version of Hyacinthe Rigaud’s famous portrait of Louis XIV, King of France. It is laden with symbols of the Bourbon family, who had ruled France since the time of Louis grandfather. Anyone at court would have recognized the scepter he holds, the crown resting on the cushion at his right, and the hand of justice, lying beside the crown, as symbols of the Bourbon dynasty.
The original version, now in the Louvre, was commissioned by Louis' grandson shortly after he was crowned King Philip V of Spain in 1700. Louis was so pleased with the portrait that he kept it for himself and asked Rigaud to copy it. Serving as state portraits, other copies now hang in the Palace of Versailles and elsewhere.
None of these royal associations were lost on J. Paul Getty, an enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector of French decorative arts. He acquired this portrait in 1938 when it was sold at auction by a member of the Spanish Bourbon aristocracy. After seeing another version of the picture that year, he commented that it was “not as good as mine or the one in the Louvre.”
