Louis XIV par le Bernin : le génie et la majesté

Exhibition at the Château de Versailles, 3 June - 28 September 2025

In 1665, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 - 1680) was at the height of his career. He was the most famous sculptor and artist in Europe.  Louis XIV invited him to Paris on the initiative of Colbert, the King's Superintendent of Buildings. Pope Alexander VII authorised the trip, giving it a quasi-diplomatic character. After intense negotiations, Le Bernin left Rome for Paris, where he was welcomed like a prince and stayed from 2 June to 20 October. The event caused a sensation throughout Europe, especially as it was the only trip the artist had ever made outside Italy.

Having come to build the Cour Carrée in the Louvre, Bernini was also commissioned by the king to paint his portrait in marble. The artist set to work with passion. The studio became a showcase for the Court, while the posing sessions brought the glory-loving young monarch and the sculptor at the height of his powers closer together. The bust was their joint work: Bernini considered it his best portrait, and Louis XIV always kept it close to him, in the Louvre and then at Versailles.

This catalogue of the exhibition devoted to Le Bernin's bust of Louis XIV traces the genesis and reception of this absolute masterpiece of Baroque art, the fruit of genius and majesty.