Louis le Grand Roy de France

Copper engraving depicting King Louis XIV of France, known as the Roi-Soleil or "Sun King." The portrait shows the monarch in regal armor, with the Order of the Holy Spirit and other symbols of royal power, surrounded by an ornate architectural frame. This image was published in Mallet's monumental Description de L'Univers, one of the most ambitious encyclopedic works of the seventeenth century, illustrating the geography, politics, and rulers of the world.

Allain Manesson Mallet (1630-1706), a French engineer, cartographer, and court geographer to Louis XIV, combined artistry and precision in his engravings. His depictions of monarchs and world figures reflect both the grandeur of the French court and the Baroque fascination with order and authority. This engraving captures Louis XIV's self-fashioned image as the embodiment of absolute monarchy and the radiant center of the French state.