Hyacinthe Rigaud

In 1701 Hyacinthe Rigaud painted the portrait that fixed the image of absolute monarchy for the whole of Europe. Louis XIV, then in his 60s, stands wrapped in blue velvet stitched with golden lilies and lined with ermine, one hand on his sceptre, a leg turned out to show the calf he was still proud of. The king liked it so much he kept it rather than send it as the diplomatic gift it was meant to be.

Rigaud had built his career on exactly this, the grand state portrait, learning from the swagger of Van Dyck a century earlier and giving French power a face. His clients were the court, the church and the wealthy, and his large workshop turned out hundreds of likenesses, with assistants painting the acres of drapery and lace around the faces he did himself.

He worked for three generations of Bourbon kings and was ennobled for it. When he died in 1743 the state portrait he had perfected was still the standard every European court measured itself against.