Portrait of King Louis XIV.,
oil on canvas, 62 x 49,5 cm, framed

The present painting shows Louis XIV., later to be known as the ‘Sun King’ (Saint-Germain-en-Laye 1638–1715 Versailles), at the age of six, one year after he was crowned King of France and at the beginning of a reign that was to last more than 70 years until his death in 1715.

The inscription documents the visit of the papal nuncio Nicolo di Bagno to the French court:

Il Christianissimo Re Lodovico XIV / In questa effigie et eta l’anno 1644 quando / Nicolo di Bagno Arcivescovo di Athene ando nun/zio in Francia per il sommo Pontefice / Urbano VIII appresso la Maesto Sua / e la Christianissima Regina Anna d’Aus/tria sua madre e regente / dimorandovi li X anni del / pontificato di Papa Inno/centio X e per tutto l’an/no 1656 essendo richia/mato a Roma da Nostro Signore Papa / Alessandro VII con have/re riceuto dalle loro / Maestà dal Signore Cardinale Maza/rino e dagli altri Signori / Ministri Principi e popolo di / quel Regno ogni sorte / di honori et segni di be/nevolentia.

[The most Christian King Louis XIV. / depicted in the year 1644 / Nicolò di Bagno, Archbishop of Athens, as nuncio in France / for Pope Urban VIII. [taking up] his official seat / The most Christian Queen Anna of Austria / his mother and regent / resided there for 10 years, under the / papacy of Pope Innocent X. and during the entire year 1656 / when our Lord the Pope Alexander VII. summoned her to Rome / where Cardinal Mazarin and other majesties and prominent personages, as well as the people of this realm invested her with every kind of honour and sign of their favour.]

The present painting represents an interesting historical document from the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV., who had inherited the throne before the age of five following the death of his father. His mother Queen Anna of Austria and prime minister Cardinal Mazarin shared the regency until Louis came of age.