The King's first painter: Charles Le Brun
4 Video Views·Dec 30, 2025
To mark the 300th anniversary of Louis XIV's death we have produced a series of films exploring objects in the Collection which help reveal the powerful myth of Louis 'The Sun King'. In this film Laura Langelüddecke, our Assistant Curator, explores the impact on the arts of Louis' first painter, Charles Le Brun.
Film by Jamie Isbell, music by Oscar Webster Bell.
This portrait bust was made in circa 1676 by Antoine Croisevaux.
Now he made this bust in order to prepare his so-called
Monceau de Reception, his reception piece for the Academy of Painting and Sculpture.
And this is something that was actually required from every artist prior to joining
or prior to being admissioned, just in order to give a proof of his art.
And what we have here is actually a terracotta model for the final piece,
then executed in marble.
It shows his fellow artist Charles Lebrun in this very lively, very vivid pose,
his gaze directed into the distance.
This is particularly interesting in that actually only a few
terracotta busts from Croisevaux survived.
Croisevaux portrayed important people in his time,
and this man, Charles Lebrun, certainly was one of them.
He was actually the dominating figure, really, in the arts of his time,
and an incredibly versatile and interesting artist.
He held the very prestigious position of the king's first painter,
but apart from that, he was also an interior designer, if you will,
because he was actually in charge of designing and also overseeing
the furnishings for the royal apartments, among them also the apartments in Versailles.
And apart from that, he was also responsible for the courtly entertainments.
Lebrun was also a co-founder and later a rector of the Academy.
He was also very interested in art theory,
and he really actively shaped new ideas and also new rules for the art production in France.