Relief portrait of Louis XIV

Representing a profile bust of Louis XIV, this is a leather copy of a marble relief by the French sculptor François Girardon (1628-1715). Set in an elaborately tooled leather frame, it was made using the repoussé technique, in which the image was pressed or hammered into the leather from the reverse side. Such royal portraits were not generally made specifically for the king, but more broadly for courtiers and officials to display their loyalty to the monarch.