Lodewijk XIV deelt bevelen uit aan havenwerkers 1752

Simon Thomassin made this print, "Lodewijk XIV deelt bevelen uit aan havenwerkers", using etching in the seventeenth-century. It is not immediately apparent that this image depicts the King giving orders to dockworkers. The clues are there. In the background, we can see a ship, but the inclusion of mythological figures, such as the cherubs above and the telamons to either side, create an impression of self-conscious classicism, designed to evoke the glories of the Roman Empire. This was no accident. In the reign of Louis XIV, France underwent a period of intense centralization and state-building. The Academy of Fine Arts was founded in 1648, and was given the task of establishing official artistic doctrines. To understand the print better, we can consider the social conditions that made it possible. We can look at records of state patronage, publications of the Académie Royale, and other prints that illustrate the political functions of art in seventeenth-century France.