The Road to Calvary 

Charles Le Brun painted this oil on canvas, titled "The Road to Calvary," in seventeenth-century France. Religious imagery like this was part of the cultural and political landscape, especially in royal circles. Le Brun was First Painter to King Louis XIV. We might think about the visual codes of power and authority in the painting, and ask how they relate to the power and authority of the French monarchy. Note the architecture in the distance, which references Roman triumphal arches. Consider too how the theatrical composition borrows from classical antiquity to ennoble the monarchy. Historians of art can reflect on the social and institutional contexts that shaped the making and the interpretation of this artwork. Research into the patronage networks and the court culture that sustained the artist can reveal the meanings that "The Road to Calvary" held at the time it was made.