San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Master's Theses Master's Theses and Graduate Research Spring 2019 Ballet de la Nuit: Staging the Absolute Monarchy of Louis XIV Sarah Curtis Lysgaard San Jose State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses Recommended Citation Lysgaard, Sarah Curtis, "Ballet de la Nuit: Staging the Absolute Monarchy of Louis XIV" (2019). Master's Theses. 5007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.cyvg-uu2n https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5007 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses and Graduate Research at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. BALLET DE LA NUIT: STAGING THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY OF LOUIS XIV A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Art and Art History San José State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Sarah Lysgaard May 2019 © 2019 Sarah C. Lysgaard ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The Designated Thesis Committee Approves the Thesis Titled BALLET DE LA NUIT: STAGING THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY OF LOUIS XIV by Sarah C. Lysgaard APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ART AND ART HISTORY SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY May 2019 Anne Simonson, PhD. Department of Art & Art History Christy Junkerman, PhD. Department of Art & Art History Jan Thompson, PhD. Department of Art & Art History ABSTRACT BALLET DE LA NUIT: STAGING THE ABSOLUTE MONARCHY OF LOUIS XIV by Sarah C. Lysgaard This thesis researches the ballet de cour spectacles of the seventeenth century French court, with a careful examination of the political and social importance of such spectacles in anticipation of reconstructing Louis XIV’s Ballet de la Nuit (Ballet of the Night), originally performed February 23, 1653 at the Louvre’s Salle de Petit Bourbon.