"King of France and Navarre" by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701

This painting of King Louis XIV was originally intended to be a gift to King Phillip V of Spain; however, the painting gained so much popularity that the king decided to keep it for his own collection (Pomaréde, Vincent). The painting captured all of the king’s pride and Rigaud maybe even overemphasized his robes to give him his glory (Vincent Pomaréde). The face of the king was in fact painted on paper then posted onto the canvas later on, which explains the protrusion of the face if examined closely (Vincent Pomaréde).
King Louis XIV came to power in 1661 and became his very own chief minister (Elena Steingrad). The King was a great patron of the arts and largely encouraged it (Vincent Pomaréde). He chose the sun as his emblem, and according to Greek mythology, Apollo was the god of the sun, peace, and arts, which explains the reason for King Louis’s nickname, the sun king (Elena Steingrad). The building of the palace of Versailles was also created under his reign, which was also his most important creation as many events were hosted in that very building (Vincent Pomaréde).
King Louis XIV was rather successful during his reign for “[bringing] absolute monarchy to its height”. (qtd. Elena Steingrad). However, his pride built up and greed eventually hit the monarchs of France. During the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was and his wife Marie Antoinette became so overindulgent in all the luxuries that the citizens of France grew furious and overtook the French monarchy (David Cody). The luxury of pride and greed for power and extravagances again led to the people’s own destruction.