Kroning van Lodewijk XV in Reims 1723 - 1756

Curator: This engraving captures a pivotal moment: the coronation of Louis XV in Reims, on October 25, 1723. It's currently held here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: What strikes me is the meticulous detail, achieved entirely through the printmaking process. It's monochrome but densely packed. The artist seems intent on recording not just the event but the grandeur of the setting itself, the labour involved must have been substantial. Curator: Absolutely. Consider the historical backdrop: Louis XV ascended the throne at a mere five years old, following the death of his great-grandfather, Louis XIV. This coronation solidified the continuity of Bourbon rule, steeped in divine right. Editor: And we see that performative aspect quite literally rendered here. It all speaks to the process of image making as statecraft. How the reproduction and distribution of such imagery reinforced the crown’s material and symbolic power, its political project made visual, then circulated widely. Curator: Precisely. This print serves as propaganda but also documents the complex performance of power. Look at the visual rhetoric; the elevated altar, the dense assembly of figures arranged almost like set dressing. Note, too, how class and gender are displayed. The social body mirrors the actual one. Editor: How the image's materiality - its ability to be reproduced and distributed en masse – contributes to, not just records, the king’s symbolic construction, interesting stuff! I keep thinking about what would this experience been like if the ceremony would not be rendered to a piece of paper like this? Curator: Thinking about it like that gives you the true perspective, doesn't it? The event transforms as the piece transforms into the historical memory, like echoes! Editor: Absolutely. This image embodies how even seemingly objective historical depictions are themselves constructed through careful manipulation and the hard labor of crafting images.