Louis XIV in allegorical armor

Michel Molart

17th century · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Designed in 1672, this bronze relief shows Louis XIV wearing a fanciful helmet crowned with the chariot of Apollo, the sun god to whom the king likened himself. The chariot drags a chained prisoner, symbolic of the German towns captured by Louis XIV's armies during the first of his victorious campaigns against the Dutch. The helmet and the armor are embossed with a wealth of allegorical details.

Artist

Michel Molart

Date

17th century

Medium

Bronze

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Ogden Mills, 1925