Absolute authority: chin up, proud bust and a contemptuous attitude, the Sun King rules. Immortalized in a 7-meter high monumental sculpture by François Girardon (1699), the ‘Louis XIV à cheval’ took centre stage Place Vendôme before the statue was raised to the ground, in 1792, during the French revolution. Today a resident of the Musée du Louvre, the bust still stands tall, reproduced in a smaller scale. An iconic royal figure and messenger of “l’art à la française”, Louis XIV now looks over Cire Trudon’s collection of busts.
