LOUIS XIV
d’après G.L.BERNINI
dit LE BERNIN 1598-1680

fonte er plemb de 1988

The sculpture made by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini has an interesting history. King Louis XIV commissioned him from the famous sculptor in 1665 when the king was 27 years old. The work on the statue took about 20 years, and only in 1685 (5 years after the artist’s death) did the statue reach the king. The king who really didn’t like the statue, placed it in the corner of the gardens of Versailles. In 1702, the statue was changed: a helmet was placed on the head, and flames were added under the horse’s legs, and the statue was supposed to represent not Louis XIV but Marcus Curtius, a mythological Roman general who jumped to Hell to save the republic.
During the French Revolution, when many statues of French kings were blown up, this statue was saved, since it bore the name of the Roman general.

This statue is a copy of the statue found in the gardens of Versailles.

The statue was photographed on the same day Click for a larger image

Translation of the text on the sign:
LOUIS XIV
after G.L.BERNINI
said LE BERNIN 1598-1680

cast iron er plemb from 1988