Louis XV 19th century

Curator: This exquisite bronze sculpture, a portrait of Louis XV, dates back to the 19th century and can be found here at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The artist is Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the Younger. Editor: It strikes me immediately as conveying immense authority, almost aloofness. The bronze has a cool sheen, and his gaze is so direct. Curator: Indeed. The portrayal of Louis XV, known as "Louis the Beloved" early in his reign, speaks volumes about the evolving image of French royalty and it is certainly not a warts-and-all rendering of him! Editor: His elaborate wig is fascinating – a cascade of curls meticulously rendered. How much of its inclusion is about the man, and how much about what the wig came to signify culturally? Curator: It's impossible to separate them! The wig becomes synonymous with power, wealth and belonging to the elite. Think about how portraiture and sculpture both functioned as a type of royal propaganda, meant for wide dispersal throughout the empire. It was not unusual to have many copies made of the king for official purposes. Editor: The armour certainly reinforces this too. It is fascinating to consider that bronze, with all its connotations of strength and permanence, was chosen as the material with which to cast his likeness. Does it make a conscious comparison to Roman emperors? Curator: It absolutely evokes the Roman imperial tradition. Louis XIV, XV, XVI: all consciously looked back to prior empires. Editor: This piece is like an intricate code. A surface gloss of regal representation hides a network of social and symbolic cues about class, political authority, and memory. Thank you, I can see more clearly now! Curator: You’ve pinpointed it. Art allows us to decode those cues, revealing the layers of power and historical context embedded within the sculpted image of a king. It brings so much depth to the analysis.