Rigaud's portrait of Louis XIV

A large, full-length oil portrait of King Louis XIV of France, painted when he was in his sixties. He stands in a palace setting beneath a huge, looping red velvet curtain trimmed with gold, and looks out at the viewer with a calm, confident expression. He wears a long, dark, curled wig and lace at his neck and wrists.

Over his shoulders hangs an enormous coronation robe of blue velvet covered with gold fleurs-de-lis (the lily symbol of the French monarchy) and lined with white ermine fur dotted with black. He holds the robe back with one hand on his hip, showing his legs in white silk stockings and shoes with red heels; a jeweled sword hangs at his side. His other hand rests on a long golden scepter, which he holds upside down like a walking stick.

Beside him, on a stool draped with the same blue and gold cloth, lie the royal crown and a rod topped with a small carved hand (the 'hand of justice'). Behind him stand a tall classical column on a carved base and a gilded throne.