"Portrait of Louis XIV - Attributed to Louis Ferdinand II Elle (1612 - 1689) 17th century French school circa 1646 attributed to Louis Ferdinand II Elle (1612; 1689). Portrait of Louis XIV, child.

Linen canvas 62 cm by 52 cm. Old frame of 80 cm by 70 cm

This remarkable and rare portrait of Louis XIV as a child is very probably a work of Louis Ferdinand II Elle. Louis XIV must be around 8 or 10 years old, he has been king since he was 6 years old under the regency of his mother Anne of Austria. The young king wears a sumptuous costume, beautifully painted, of silk, embroidery of gold and silver threads and fine lace.

Louis Ferdinand II Elle (1612; 1689)

He is the son of Ferdinand Elle (1580; 1637), painter to Louis XIII. In 1648, under Louis XIV, he participated in the founding of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture with the Testelins, Sébastien Bourdon ... King's painter, he became a professor at the Academy in 1657. Protestant he had to leave his post upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes but was reinstated in 1686. Like his father, he mainly produced portraits in the Flemish tradition for members of the court such as the portrait of the great Mademoiselle in 1678, that of Madame de Maintenon in 1688 and that of Madame de la Fayette (now kept in the Palace of Versailles) ..."