Brittany Offers Louis XIV the Model of His Equestrian Statue
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Coysevox’s relief is one of a pair that decorated the pedestal of an equestrian statue of Louis XIV in Rennes, in the French province of Brittany. Here, history and allegory are combined. The personification of Brittany, assisted by the sculptor and architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, presents the design of the statue to the king amid a crowd of spectators in the Hall of Mirrors. Siamese ambassadors, who had traveled through Brittany to reach Versailles, are recognizable by their conical hats. A representation of the marriage of Louis XII and Anne, Duchess of Brittany, unifying France and Brittany in 1499, hangs on one of the arched mirrors in the background.
Artwork Details
- Title: Brittany Offers Louis XIV the Model of His Equestrian Statue
- Artist: Antoine Coysevox (French, Lyons 1640–1724 Paris)
- Date: 1692–93
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: Without frame: 54 5/16 × 85 7/16 × 4 3/4 in., 21162oz. (138 × 217 × 12 cm, 600 kg)
- Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
- Credit Line: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes (794.2.2)
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts