Louis XIV As Apollo On Mount Parnassus – Workshop Of Giovanni Francesco Romanelli

Oil on canvas. Roman school from the mid-17th century, workshop of G. Francesco Romanelli.
The painting we are presenting is a reduction of one of the frescoes painted by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli in 1651 in the ceremonial gallery of the Palace of Cardinal Mazarin (current BNF, rue de Richelieu). Although it takes the exact composition of his Mount Parnassus, the vibrant color palette, many details as well as the figure of Apollo differ. The morphology of the god of the sun and conductor of the muses is no longer that of a powerful god with androgynous beauty but that of a young ephebe with Bourbonneesque features. We recognize the incarnation of the Sun King around his eighteenth year. In the years 1655-57 (Louis XIV was between 17 and 19 years old), Romanelli returned to Paris at the request of Anne of Austria who commissioned him to decorate her apartments at the Palais du Louvre. It was probably during this second stay in Paris that our painting was painted and it could be a gift that the Viterbo painter's workshop made to the mother of young Louis in gratitude for the royal commissions.
From the first years of his reign, “Louis XIV became aware of the importance of his image. He was able to impose the representation of an all-powerful, proud, warrior and protective sovereign, thus initiating the construction of the myth and serving his undivided reign…” cf. Nicolas Milovanovic. As evidenced by Henri Gissey's drawing, the king, barely 14 years old, appears as Apollo haloed with rays of light in the ballet La Nuit. He will then be awarded the title of Sun King. Thus we see in numerous compositions the king represented as Apollo, god of the Sun, arts and harmony, bringing together all the virtues necessary to guarantee the order and stability of the kingdom.

Provenance: Sotheby's London sale on July 8, 1981 lot 22.

Our Painting is presented in its original frame with a motif of flowers and foliage in carved and gilded wood.
Dimensions: 31 x 57.5 cm – 47 x 73.5 cm with the frame

Louis XIV and Apollo:
- Henri Gissey, Louis XIV as Apollo, gouache drawing, 1653, BNF.
- Joseph Werner the Younger, series of gouaches on paper representing Louis XIV as Apollo, 1664, Château de Versailles.
- François Girardon, Apollo served by the nymphs, marble sculpture, 1666, Château de Versailles.
- Jean Nocret, Louis XIV and the royal family, oil on canvas, 1670, Château de Versailles.
- Charles de la Fosse, Apollo on his chariot, fresco, Apollo's salon, Palace of Versailles.

Biography:
Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Viterbo 1610 – Id. 1662) apprenticed in the workshop of Domenichino and quickly found himself in that of Peter of Cortona. Attracted by the youthful manner of this second master, he imitates his style perfectly. Which led to her collaborating with him on the decoration of the Barberini Palace in Rome. Impatient to assert himself, he took advantage of the latter's absence, then in Florence, to break his ties with him. Author of mythological and historical scenes, inspired by Cortona as much as by Poussin, he achieves a real quality of emotion in his compositions. Protected by Francesco Barberini and Bernini, Romanelli received important commissions. And it was this same Barberini who recommended him to Cardinal Mazarin for the decoration of the new wing of his Parisian palace. This was followed by the royal commission from Anne of Austria for her apartments at the Louvre Palace. During these stays in France, he also worked for powerful sponsors, such as the president of the Chamber of Accounts Lambert de Thorigny. The works of Romanelli's French period were not without influence on the development of French classical art.

Bibliography:
- OY-MARRA Elisabeth, Zu den Fresken des Parnaß und des Parisurteils von Giovanni Francesco Romanelli in der Galerie Mazarin in Paris, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 2 (Revue d'histoire de l'art) 1994, pp 170 to 200.
- Collective, Rome – Paris 1640 – Cultural transfers and rebirth of an artistic center, Somogy Editions 2010
- LOIRE Stéphane, 17th century Italian paintings from the Louvre Museum, Gallimard 2006