State of the Art NOLA

  Redheaded Stepchild Kathy Rodriguez   In 1648, Charles LeBrun, artist and advisor to the French monarchy, helped found The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris. In the 1660s, Le Brun had become official painter to the King, Louis XIV, and director of the Academy.   In his morceau de reception , or reception piece, submitted to the Academy in 1686, Le Brun’s student Nicolas de Largilli è rre depicts him like a monarch. Rather than setting the painter in all the lavish accoutr é ments indicative of the excessive riches of the aristocracy, Largilli è rre depicts him surrounded by the trappings of academic training: classical busts, prints, and drawings. In the background, Largilli è rre copies Le Brun’s work from the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, The Conquest of Franche-Comt é . History painting like this, which meant to represent the political and military power of the king, was considered the highest academic art. Le Brun gestures to...