The fabrication of Louis XIV / Peter Burke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Burke, Peter, 1937-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715.

Public opinion.

History.

Government publicity.

Kings and rulers.

France--Kings and rulers--Public opinion.

France.

Louis XIV, King of France, 1638-1715--Public opinion.

Louis.

Government publicity--France--History--17th century.

Public opinion--France--History--17th century.

Louis XIV, King of France.

Kings and rulers--Public opinion.

Local Subjects:

Louis XIV, King of France.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 242 pages : illustrations, facsimiles, portraits ; 24 cm

Edition:

[Paperback edition].

Place of Publication:

New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, 1994.

Summary:

"Louis XIV was a man like any other, but the money and attention lavished on his public image by the French government transformed him into a godlike figure. In this engrossing book, an internationally respected historian gives an account of contemporary representations of Louis XIV and shows how the making of the royal image illuminates the relationship between art and power." "Images of Louis XIV included hundreds of oil paintings and engravings, three hundred-odd medals struck to commemorate the major events of the reign, sculptures and bronzes, as well as plays, ballets (in which the king himself sometimes appeared on stage), operas, odes, sermons, official newspapers and histories, fireworks, fountains and tapestries. Drawing on an analysis of these representations as well as on surviving documentary sources, Peter Burke shows the conscious attempt to 'invent' the image of the king and reveals how the supervision of the royal image was entrusted to a committee, the so-called 'small academy'." "This book is not only a fascinating chronological study of the mechanics of the image-making of a king over the course of a seventy-year reign but is also an investigation into the genre of cultural construction. Burke discusses the element of propaganda implicit in image-making, the manipulation of seventeenth-century media of communication, the channels of communication (oral, visual and textual) and their codes (literary and artistic), and the intended audience and its response. He concludes by comparing and contrasting Louis's public image with that of other rulers ranging from Augustus to contemporary American presidents."--BOOK JACKET.

Contents:

Introducing Louis XIV

Persuasion

Sunrise

The construction of the system

Self-assertion

The years of victory

The reconstruction of the system

Sunset

The crisis of representations

The reverse of the medal

The reception of Louis XIV

Louis in perspective.

Notes:

Edition statement taken from p. [xii].

Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-235) and index.

ISBN:

9780300059434

0300059434

OCLC:

34326580

Publisher Number:

99989603736