portrayed it (FIG. 25-8). But here, the light, its
source shaded by an old man’s hand, falls
upon a very different company in a very dif-
ferent mood. A group of humble men and
women, coarsely clad, gather in prayerful vigil
around a luminous baby Jesus. Without the
aid of the title, this might be construed as a
genre piece, a narrative of some event from
peasant life. Nothing in the environment,
placement, poses, dress, or attributes of the
figures distinguishes them as the scriptural
Virgin Mary, Joseph, Christ Child, or shep-
herds. The artist did not even paint halos. The
light is not spiritual but material: It comes
from a candle. La Tour’s scientific scrutiny of
the effects of light, as it throws precise shad-
ows on surfaces that intercept it, nevertheless had religious intention
and consequence. The light illuminates a group of ordinary people
held in a mystic trance induced by their witnessing the miracle of the
Incarnation. In this timeless tableau of simple people, La Tour elimi-
nated the dogmatic significance and traditional iconography of the
Incarnation. Still, these people reverently contemplate something
they regard as holy. The devout of any religious persuasion can read
this painting, regardless of their familiarity with the New Testament.
The supernatural calm that pervades Adoration of the Shepherds
is characteristic of the mood of Georges de La Tour’s art. He achieved
this tone by eliminating motion and emotive gesture (only the light is
dramatic), by suppressing surface detail, and by simplifying body vol-
umes. These stylistic traits are among those associated with classical
and Renaissance art. Thus, several apparently contradictory elements
meet in the work of La Tour: classical composure, fervent spirituality,
and genre realism.
696 Chapter 25 NORTHERN EUROPE, 1600 TO 170025-30Hyacinthe Rigaud,Louis XIV,1701.
Oil on canvas, 9 2 6 3 . Louvre, Paris.
In this portrait set against a stately backdrop,
Rigaud portrayed the 5 4 Sun King wearing
red high-heeled shoes and with his ermine-
lined coronation robes thrown over his left
shoulder.
LOUIS XIVThe preeminent French art patron of the 17th cen-
tury was King Louis XIV. Determined to consolidate and expand his
power, Louis was a master of political strategy and propaganda. He
established a carefully crafted and nuanced relationship with the
nobility, granting them sufficient benefits to keep them pacified but
simultaneously maintaining rigorous control to avoid insurrection
or rebellion. He also ensured subservience by anchoring his rule in
divine right (a belief in a king’s absolute power as God’s will), ren-
dering Louis’s authority incontestable. So convinced was Louis of his
importance and centrality to the French kingdom that he eagerly
adopted the title “le Roi Soleil” (“the Sun King”). Like the sun, Louis
XIV was the center of the universe.
Louis’s desire for control extended to all realms of French life,
including art. The king and his principal adviser, Jean-Baptiste Col-
bert (1619–1683), strove to organize art and architecture in the ser-
vice of the state. They understood well the power of art as propa-1 ft.