Louis XIV As A Child C. 1643 – Henri Testelin (1616 – 1695)

17th century French school, attributed to Henri Testelin. Oil on canvas.
Fruit of the union of the two most powerful dynasties in Europe, the houses of Bourbon and Habsburg, the one who will soon be called the Sun King succeeded his father Louis XIII on May 14, 1643, shortly before the age of 5 years. At birth, the young Louis was given the nickname Dieudonné because it was only after twenty-three years of marriage that the heir to the throne of France was born, and was thus considered a gift from heaven. The young Louis will be the 64th king of France. Original work, our portrait datable around 1643 is contemporary with those executed by the Beaubrun cousins (double portrait of Louis and his brother 1642, Yannick and Ben Jakober Foundation in Majorca) or Claude Deruet (portrait of the Dauphin Louis, Museum of Fine Arts). Orleans Arts). As on the latter, the royal child wears a feather cap matching his dress and an apron richly decorated with embroidery and lace. From a stylistic point of view, we attribute our painting to Henri Testelin who painted the young king on several occasions.

This delicious portrait is underlined by a French frame in carved and gilded wood from the Louis XIV period.
Dimensions: 56 x 45 cm – 75 X 64 cm with the frame.
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Henri Testelin (Paris 1616 - The Hague 1695) succeeded his father Gilles Testelin as painter to King Louis XIII. He is one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Thanks to his portraits, he met with success and played a decisive role in the development of the official doctrine of the arts. Among his official portraits, the two paintings kept at the Museum of the Palace of Versailles; Ten-year-old Louis XIV (1648) and Louis XIV protector of the Academy (1668) are outstanding examples of his art. As a Protestant, he was expelled from the Academy in 1681 and took refuge in the United Provinces.