Art Institute of Chicago

Louis XIV

Robert Nanteuil

Date

1663

Medium

Engraving on paper

Culture

France

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This portrait was one of several prints of Louis XIV that Nanteuil engraved based on a pastel that he composed from life. Nanteuil frequently brought friends to entertain his models as they sat, giving his portraits a relaxed, natural look, but Louis XIV was a reputedly difficult subject who detested sitting for extended periods. Nonetheless, Nanteuil would engrave 12 portraits of the king, and draw him in person on more than one occasion. As his career progressed, Nanteuil’s prints grew more painterly in quality, with subtler chiaroscuro effects, evident here in the carefully hatched shadows behind Louis XIV.

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