US$425 excl. shipping & handling

Louis XIV (1638-1715) was king of France from 1643. He brought the French monarchy to its peak of absolute power and made France the dominant power in Europe. He was known as the 'Sun King'. His reign is also associated with the greatest age of French culture and art.

Louis was born at Saint-Germain on Sept. 5, 1638, the son of Louis XIII and his wife, Anne of Austria.  On May 16, 1643, his father died and Louis became king. As he was only 4, the country was governed by his mother as regent; this meant, in effect, by Cardinal Mazarin, with whom Anne was in love. The successive rebellions known as the Fronde failed to dislodge Mazarin, although they left the boy king with a lifelong horror of rebellion and a resentment of Paris, where the uprising had started. Mazarin remained in power for the rest of his life, and only when he died in 1661, did Louis seize full control, announcing that henceforth he would direct his government himself. He did so absolutely with the government remaining under his personal control for the next 54 years.

Standing approximately 55cm tall (22in) Louis comes complete with stand and accessories including the Order of the Holy Spirit - a copy commissioned from the Parisian jeweller who made the originals.