Hyacinthe Rigaud Ou Le Portrait Soleil

Exhibition at the Château de Versailles, 17 November 2020 - 14 March 2021

The figure of the painter Hyacinthe Rigaud, born in 1656 in Perpignan, was almost eclipsed by his masterpiece, the famous Portrait of Louis XIV in royal costume painted in 1701, reproduced in all history books. Behind this iconic work hides a brilliant and prolific artist, author, for more than half a century, of about 1500 paintings and countless drawings.
Accompanying the great retrospective presented at the Palace of Versailles, this catalogue allows to discover an unexpected Rigaud, a portraitist fascinated by religious painting, a painter subjugated by sculpture, excelling as much in grandiose effigies as in intimate representations. Alongside the artist's works are reproductions of numerous paintings by his contemporaries and sculptures, allowing us to grasp the complex links between the painted and sculpted portraits of the time.