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Satirical Imagery of the Grotesque Body of Louis XIV Pushing The Satirical Imagery ofthe Grotesque Body ofLouis XIV Pushing the Corporeal Limits ofFrance Brittany Nicole Heinrich Department of Art History and Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal F ebruary 2006 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts at Mc Gill University in partial fulfillment of the degree of Masters of Arts. © Brittany Nicole Heinrich (2006) Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-24868-3 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-24868-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page cou nt, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Table of Contents Table of Contents List of Figures III Acknowledgments Iv Abstract v Resumé vi Introduction: Making the Censored Visible Chapter One: 10 Louis Usurper or Louis the Protector? Pushing the Corporeal Limits of France Introduction 10 The French Academy of Painting and Sculpture, Generating Official Imagery of Louis XIV 13 Portraiture and its Role in the Absolute Agenda 18 Representation and Power: The Body 24 Satire: The Pamphleteers and the Unofficial Image 27 A Conclusion in Mapping: Cartographic Interests 32 Chapter Two: Phaeton's Chariot or Louis as the Triumphant Apollo 36 Introduction 36 Allegory in Academic Images 40 The Significance of Allegory 45 Baron Lisola and the Disgruntled Germans 49 Louis as Phaeton 52 The German Railleries and Joseph Werner 55 An Allegoricai Conclusion 59 Chapter Three: The French Press: Censorship, Surveillance, and Labor 60 Introduction 60 Censorship and Surveillance 62 The Importance of the Printing Press in France and the Threat of its Existence in the Dutch Republic 66 The Dutch Printing Press and Public Opinion 70 Baroque Stagecraft and the Making ofa Universal Monarchy 73 The Laboring Body and the Making of a Universal Monarchy 77 Conclusion 81 Conclusion: Juxtaposition: The Body of the King in Satirical and Canonical Imagery 83 Figures 86 Bibliography 96 ii List of Figures Figure 1: Anonymous, Louis the Usurper, Late Seventeenth-Century British National Library, London Figure 2: Anonymous, La Chute de Phaèton, in Der Erfâhrte Hann, Late Seventeenth-Century As published in Le Règne de Louis XIV et l'Opinion Publique en Allemagne Figure 3: Joseph Werner, Louis as Satyr: Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, 1670 Collection du Murait, Zurich Figure 4: Anonymous, Presse Francoisse: Holland Gives Ail the Villages and Towns that the King wants to Have, 1672-73 Knuttel Collection, The Royal Library, The Hague Figure 5: William Thackeray, 'An Historical Study' frontispiece to Titmarsh, The Paris Sketchbook, 1840 British National Library, London Figure 6: Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, 1701 Le Louvre, Paris Figure 7: Henri Testelin, Louis XlV, Protector ofthe Arts, 1666 Château de Versailles, Versailles Figure 8: Joseph Werner, Triumph ofLouis XIV, 1664 Château de Versailles, Versailles Figure 9: Paolo Veronese, Feast in the House ofSimon, 1570, Hercules Salon, Château de Versailles, Versailles Figure 10: Abraham Bosse, A Printer's Workshop, 1642, Copper engraving Museum het Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam iii Acknowledgments 1 would like to express my gratitude to my academic and research supervisor Dr Angela Vanhaelen for her enthusiasm, encouragement, insight, constructive comments, and endless support in the process of completing my masters thesis. 1 would like to express my appreciation to Nathalie Lachance for her friendship and guidance in the translation of German texts. 1 extend my appreciation to Sydney Brown for her editorial comments and suggestions. And, of course, 1 am in debt to Peter Burke for publishing the se images from various public and private collections. 1 extend a heartfelt thanks to the amazing individuals 1 have come to know, work with, and love in the Art History and Communication Studies Department at McGill University, whose friendship, support, and professional opinions 1 will al ways treasure. 1 also wish to extend my gratitude and appreciation to my three brothers, life friends, and mentors who have supported and encouraged me over the years. Especially, to my parents, to whom this work is dedicated, who have showered me with love, support, and encouragement throughout my life and education. iv Abstract The establishment of the French Absolutism under King Louis XIV depended in part on pictorial representation generated by the French Academy. As a vehicle and institute of the state, the Academy created a canon ofimagery, which was known throughout Europe. This enabled Louis XIV's image to be reversed by the creators of the satirical images. The makers of the reverse image appropriated the institutionalized styles and genres of royal portraiture to create innovative satirical images of the monarch using the very canon Louis XIV sanctioned. In its analysis of a small body of satirical imagery, the thesis draws on various theories about the body of the king proposed by Jean-Marie Apostolidès, Ernst Kantorowicz and Louis Marin. A comparison of satirical images with official images ofthe king demonstrates the successful strategies of satirical imagery and the collective need for these kinds images in the seventeenth century. v Resumé L'établissement de la monarchie absolue fut une transition réalisée au dix­ septième siècle par Louis XIV. Le monarque absolu compta sur des représentations de l'Académie de Beaux Arts pour justifier sa puissance. L'Académie fut instituée par l'État en 1663, après avoir créé un canon de représentation du roi qui le fit connaitre dans toute l'Europe. Ainsi, plutôt qu'en conséquence, toute l'Europe apprit à connaitre le corps de Louis XIV. La diffusion du portrait de Louis XIV permit à ses ennemis de fabriquer des portraits satiriques. Des artistes de l'image satirique détournèrent le style de l'Académie et le genre du portrait royal afin de créer des images satiriques. Ils utilisèrent ainsi le canon de Louis XIV contre lui. Mon étude de ces images satiriques se concentrera sur les théories du corps du roi qui ont proposé par Jean-Marie Apostolidès, Ernst Kantorowicz et Louis Marin. Cette comparaison des portraits de l'Académie et des imprimés satiriques expliquera le succès et le besoin collectifs pour ces représentations au dix-septième siècle vi Introduction Making the Censored Visible In a way that is how history has always been studied The making visible ofwhat was previously unseen can sometimes be the efJect ofusing a magnifying instrument... But to make visible the unseen can also mean a change oflevel. addressing oneself to a layer ofmaterial which had hitherto had no pertinence for history. and which had not been recognized as having any moral. aesthetic. political. or historical value. J As a number of art historians have argued, the establishment of French Absolutism under King Louis XIV depended in part on the pictorial representations of the king that were generated by the French Academy. As a vehicle and institute of the state, the Academy created a canon of imagery that was widely known in France and throughout Europe. While this pictorial canon was instrumental to the smooth functioning of absolutism, it also enabled the many critics of absolutism to create highly effective satirical images of the king. In this thesis, 1 will compare a small body of satirical imagery with selected official images of the king. What emerges is a better understanding of the various strategies used by satirical image makers who worked with and against the sanctioned image of the king. Many of the satirical images of Louis XIV were circulated in printed form by printers working outside France. It is thus useful to situate this body of imagery within larger debates about the functions of the printing press in the seventeenth century. According to historian Joseph Klaits, our contemporary conception of the tactics of censorship and surveillance of the printing press in France during the seventeenth century is ironie when the ideals that created this system are taken into 1 Michel Foucault, Power / Knowledge (New York: , 1980) 50-51. 1 consideration.2 The irony surfaces in the approach to government interference instituted by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, first minister to Louis XIV, who considered himself and those working under his guidance to be enlighteners in their efforts to control aU printed material, and thus control perceptions of French subjects in order to insure compliance.3 Those who enforced control of the press saw themselves as loyal servants to the king, not as blockades to justice or freedom.
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