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| Michel Mollart Portrait-relief of Louis XIV before 1683 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
"In May 1651, in the midst of the devastating series of civil wars threatening the Regency of Anne of Austria and the young king Louis XIV, the French court gathered to witness an entertainment of unprecedented opulence entitled Ballet des fêtes de Bacchus. The prologue, set on a fantastical "Golden Isle," announced the banishment of the allegorical figures of Sobriety, Austerity, and Want. The entries that followed presented a series of noble dancers, dancing masters, and musicians, dressed in magnificent and fanciful costumes, celebrating the hedonism of a young and fashionable court. A climactic entry featured a triumphant Bacchus, garlanded with grapevines, astride a three-headed monster representing the cheeful, furious, and soporific qualities of wine. ... The young king, at thirteen years of age already a virtuoso dancer, portrayed the roles of a diviner, a bacchante, a Muse, an intoxicated pickpocket, an icicle in the temple of dreams, and a Titan. Equating the court and wider realm with the peace and plenty showcased in the ballet, its artists and image-makers offered reassurance to a kingdom in the midst of armed rebellion and to a court aristocracy in the midst of profound social, political, and cultural change."
– from The Triumph of Pleasure : Louis XIV & the Politics of Spectacle by Georgia J. Cowart (University of Chicago Press, 2008)
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| Anonymous (Netherlands) Portrait-medallion of an unknown man ca. 1660-80 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| attributed to Francis van Bossuit Portrait-medallion of Nicolas Witzen ca. 1682-85 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Jean Cavalier Portrait-medallion of Queen Mary II as Princess 1686 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Jean Cavalier Portrait-medallion of King William III ca. 1690-91 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| attributed to Gaspar van der Hagen Portrait-medallion of Sir Isaac Newton ca. 1740-69 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| attributed to Gaspar van der Hagen Portrait-medallion of Hamlet Winstanley 1740 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| David Le Marchand Portrait-relief of Matthew Raper 1720 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| David Le Marchand Portrait-relief of Thomas Guy ca. 1700-1724 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| David Le Marchand Portrait-medallion of Charles Marbury ca. 1700-1720 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| David Le Marchand Portrait-medallion of David Melville ca. 1696-1700 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| David Le Marchand Portrait-medallion of Mary Voyce ca. 1712 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Carl August von Lücke Portrait-medallion of an unknown man ca. 1730 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
I am grateful to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for the excellent reproductions.
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| John Kelly Portrait-relief of Princess Charlotte Augusta 1817 ivory Victoria & Albert Museum, London |