Louis XIV et Mlle. de la Vallière dans le couvent des Carmélites à Chaillot

AfterAfter Horace Vernet (French, 1789-1863)

EngraverEngraved by Gudin and Chaponnier (French, active 1753 - 1805)

Datecirca 1820

MediumHand-colored engraving

DimensionsSheet: 14 3/4 x 17 5/16 in. (37.5 x 44 cm)
Plate: 15-3/8 x 11-7/16 in. (39.2 x 29 cm)

Credit LineUniversity Transfer from Max Epstein Archive, Gift of Mrs. C. Phillip Miller, 1963

Collections

Construction Collection

Object number1967.116.160d

Status

Not on view

Description

Website Text

In the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution, demand crumbled for color prints or anything else strongly associated with aristocratic decadence. Thus, an austere Neoclassical aesthetic of crisp black-and-white lines replaced the sensuous colors and boudoir themes of the earlier period. Slightly later, however, a nostalgia for the old monarchy crept in, especially after the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the French throne in 1815. This series of eight prints narrates the life of Mademoiselle de la Vallière, who had been the mistress of the young King Louis XIV in the 1660s. Their liaison did not last, however. After enduring the humiliation of meeting a child fathered by Louis with another woman, Mlle de la Vallière entered a convent. Surely the decision to represent this historical romance through an outmoded color print medium—one rich in connotations of luxury and sensual pleasure—was not accidental.