The Fabrication of Louis XIV [Paperback]

Mr. Peter Burke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0300059434 | ISBN-13: 978-0300059434

Louis XIV was man like any other, but the money and attention lavished on his public image by the French government transformed him into a godlike figure. This book 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, 300 odd medals struck to commemorate the major events of the reign, sculptures, and bronzes, as well as plays, ballets, 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. The book is not only a chronological study of the mechanics of the image-making of a king over the course of a 70-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 17th-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' public image with that of other rulers ranging from Augustus to contemporary American presidents.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300059434
• ISBN-13: 978-0300059434
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #430,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible Study on Royal Image-Making, June 20, 2003

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Fabrication of Louis XIV (Paperback)

I read this book in grad school, and it was one of the most enjoyable and accessible books I read. It is not a biography of Louis XIV but an extensive study on the image-making of the king. The use of the negative-sounding word "Fabrication" in the title makes the cover look very intriguing as it may imply to some that Burke has uncovered much deceit surrounding Louis' image. Actually, Burke uses this term to mean the process and constant renewal of the representation of Louis XIV (10-11). Burke includes chapters on the following subjects: the types of persuasion used (medals, festivals, allegories, etc.), a brief background on Louis' "sunrise", the organization of Louis' image-making system (academies, etc.), the royal image from the time of "personal rule," image-making through victories, reconstruction through peacetime, Louis' "sunset," differences between the ideal and the real, antagonistic images (loyal subjects making gentle fun or giving hopeful advise and actual enemies of the king), the ways in which Louis' image was perceived including the "targets" of Louis' image-makers, and a comparison with rulers before, during, and after his reign. Strangely enough, the Third Reich is not mentioned in the latter chapter which would be a glaring omission to me had it not left the door open for me to write a term paper making such a comparison.

Burke presents a very thorough study examining such things as the changes in medal inscriptions through the years of Louis' rule to a look at what was meant by "public" during this time (pp. 131 and 152). The many photographs makes for a very interesting and enjoyable book. There is also appendixes on the numbers of medals and portraits created during the different decades of Louis' reign. It is a case study of image-making which, if taken as that, is an excellent, complete study. Do not expect a complicated thesis from this work. Burke, for example, does not pursue very strongly the idea of "charisma" (introduced on page 11)and how much "charisma" is tied to personality and "fabrication." One petty complaint is Burke's tendency to throw in French words and phrases. Most often it does not detract from an understanding of the study but, in certain cases, it can be very frustrating. Two of the worst examples are when Burke is describing how the king was surrounded by the gentlemen of his chamber "even when he was..." [the rest being in French] (91) and when Burke mentions a man who found himself in court for remarking "in brutal simplicity, that..." [the rest being in French] (167). But I won't knock off a star because I do not know Francaise.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power, Pomp and Circumstance, March 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fabrication of Louis XIV (Paperback)

The theory that ritual, pomp and circumstance can serve to enhance political power is not a new one. This book, however, makes the case that Louis XIV, in everything he did, worked to style himself as an absolute leader, a god-like ruler. From his artistic and architectural programs, to sumptuary laws, and official celebrations, Louis XIV's goal was always to assert and enhance his power. This is an enthralling book that gives insight to the era of Louis XIV as well as perspective on the use of symbol and ritual to create and maintain power.