Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King (58 page)

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The château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye where Louis was born in 1638.

Louis XIV aged about twelve; the beauty of the boy King - the ‘Godgiven' child - was the subject of general comment, and his flowing, golden brown hair (which darkened with age) particularly admired.

Louis XIV dancing the role of Apollo, God of the Sun, at the age of fourteen; the image of Louis as the ‘Sun King' was carefully cultivated.

Anne of Austria as a young woman was vivacious and attractive, also a noted equestrian, a taste Louis inherited; she had many admirers, including the Duke of Buckingham, although her intimates believed these flirtations remained chaste.

Louis XIV in his early, twenties about the time he began his personal rule. By Nicolas Mignard.

The figure of Reputation holds a medallion of Louis XIV.

The Grande Mademoiselle as Minerva, patroness of the Arts; she holds a portrait of her father, Gaston Duc d'Orléans.

Marie Mancini (right), the first love of Louis XIV, with her sister Hortense; although Cardinal Mazarin was her uncle, he was horrified at the possibility of the King making such a comparatively lowly marriage.

Philip IV greets Louis XIV on the occasion of his wedding to the Infanta Maria Teresa, 1660; her stiff ceremonial attire symbolizes her formal and restricted upbringing at the Spanish court.

Two Queens of France: Anne of Austria with Marie-Thérèse, who was her niece as well as her daughter-in-law, with the Dauphin, from birth a remarkably robust child.

Queen Marie-Thérèse and her only surviving child, the Dauphin Louis de France, by Pierre Mignard.

Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV, as a widow (her husband died when she was in her early forties); she retained her love of magnificent jewellery, her bracelets in particular drawing attention to her famously beautiful hands.