Student Scholarship

Document Type

Research Paper

Abstract

In 17th century France there was national funding combined with strict controls placed on the arts and all areas of the administration of Louis XIV. This was imperative to present the country as one of the greatest European powers of its time. It was done by creating personas of Louis as the Sun King, sole administrator of France or “'L'etat c' est moi” (I am the State) and conqueror. All were reinforced and often invented in rigid confines through state funded propaganda. His name has become synonymous with the French arts of the 17th century through significant investments in all forms of media, from poetry, music and theatre to painting, sculpture and architecture. In this essay we will take a look at select works done during Louis XIV reign to reinforce this position. The goal is to shine a light on the strategic approach Louis took starting with the earliest days of his coming of age and how he reinforced his role as protector of the arts in France that led to his dominance in the 17th century.

Publication Date

Fall 11-30-2010

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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