Power Plays

September 24, 2017 July 2, 2018 Exhibition has ended

The Petite Galerie exhibition for 2017-2018 focuses on the connection between art and political power. Governing entails selfpresentation as a way of affirming authority, legitimacy and prestige. Thus art in the hands of patrons becomes a propaganda tool; but it can also be a vehicle for protest and subverting the established order. Spanning the period from antiquity up to our own time, forty works from the Musée du Louvre, the Musée National du Château de Pau, the Château de Versailles and the Musée ...
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Magnets

Magnet Jacob Bunel - Portrait of Henry IV as the God Mars

IS200472

€ 4.90

Portrait of Henry IV as the God Mars
Oil on canvas / H. 186 x L. 135 cm

It is an athletic and triumphant Henry IV that we can admire in this famous portrait, successively attributed to Ambroise Dubois then to Jacob Bunel, two of the king's painters belonging to the second school of Fontainebleau. Dating from the early years of the 17th century (around 1605-1606), this large oil on canvas undoubtedly belonged to the renovated decor of one of the king's palaces. Henry IV is represented there as an emperor, triumphant over enemies whose remains, armor, helmets and weapons he tramples underfoot.
His head crowned with laurels, holding the staff of command in his right hand, the king is dressed in deep pink armor which contrasts strongly with the green of the background curtains. The face of Henry IV, very expressive, with graying hair and beard, fine wrinkles and a slight smile, is that of a sovereign, certainly triumphant, but also benevolent whose reign aims to be peacemaking.

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