Louis XIV in the guise of Apollo, c. 1654 (graphite, watercolour, bodycolour and gold paint...

The details of the costume shown here correspond closely with those in a drawing accompanying a libretto of Les Noces de Pélée et de Thétis (Paris, Institut de France), depicting the costume worn by the 15-year-old King in a ballet performed as a series of entrées to that opera at its première in 1654. Though Louis did not officially adopt the sun as his emblem until 1661, comparisons between monarchy and the sun were so commonplace at the time that dressing the King as Apollo, the sun god, would have been unremarkable. None the less the richness of this costume is stunning, with gold brocade, ostrich feathers, and silks studded with precious stones.