Louis XIV had made his room, located in the center of the Palace of Versailles, the starting point of the sun's course as well as the ceremonies of sunrise and sunset. Remodeling this "salon where the king dresses" in 1701, the sovereign chose to maintain the paintings of the four evangelists by Valentin de Boulogne, as well as the Denier de César by the same Valentin, with The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine by Alessandro Turchi. Valentin, who died in 1632 but is still considered the second French painter after Poussin, is a grave and melancholy figure who bears witness to an intense Caravaggio style that was then out of fashion. And it is undoubtedly the very taste of Louis XIV, far from the cuteness of his time, that shines through in these minimalist lessons in darkness, from which emerges the worried gaze of an angel on a slumbering old man.

Extract from the article by Emmanuel Daydé published in the N°106 of the magazine Art Absolument. Publication on May 17, 2023.

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