# Portraiture and Power

- Institution: Gresham College
- Taught by: Dr Philip Mansel, Professor Jane Ridley, Philip Mould OBE, Dr Stephanie Pratt
- Year: 2023
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: History, Art, architecture and design
- Source: [Gresham College](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/portrait-power)
- Licence: [Educational use (Gresham College's terms)](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/terms-and-conditions)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

Louis XIV saw himself as a patron of the arts, as well as an absolute monarch and warlord. He talked to his favourite artists and writers, including Bernini, Racine, Andre Lenotre the gardener and Charles Lebrun the painter, almost as equals, and made Versailles an arts and entertainment centre rivalling Rome. Versailles’s influence, like the French language, spread across Europe. In his range and passion, Louis XIV was unsurpassed as a patron of the arts, both in his time and later.

## Lectures

1. [Louis XIV: Versailles, Europe and the Arts](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-portrait-power/cf2c77cbe8d9) (YouTube)
2. [Queen Victoria: Images of Power and Empire](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-portrait-power/fdd8c20d09ab) (YouTube)
3. [Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II: The Artists’ Challenges](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-portrait-power/555ec56aea55) (YouTube)
4. [Portraits of Native Americans from Pocahontas to Sitting Bull](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-portrait-power/9294f49a541d) (YouTube)