Penning met buste van Lodewijk XIV 1702

This print by Gérard Edelinck captures the likeness of Louis XIV within a circular frame, inscribed with his title as the most Christian King. The profile portrait, a motif reaching back to ancient Roman coinage, is here infused with the baroque grandeur of the Sun King's era. Notice how the flowing wig is meticulously detailed; it is not mere fashion but a symbol of power and status. The wig echoes the classical drapery seen in Roman portraiture, subtly connecting Louis to the legacy of emperors. Consider how such symbols persist and transform. The laurel wreath of Roman emperors evolves into the wig of the French monarch, each carrying connotations of authority and divine right. This metamorphosis is not linear but cyclical, each age reinterpreting and embedding its own desires and anxieties into these enduring forms. It is an embodiment of collective memory, where each image resonates with layers of historical and psychological weight.