Triumph and Disaster: Medals of the Sun King

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(Nec Pluribus Impar, Designed by Jean Warin, 1672 © The Trustees of the British Museum )
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Nec Pluribus Impar, Designed by Jean Warin, 1672 © The Trustees of the British Museum
(Siamese Ambassadors, 1686 © The Trustees of the British Museum )
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Siamese Ambassadors, 1686 © The Trustees of the British Museum
(Colossus of Rhodes, 1709 © The Trustees of the British Museum )
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Colossus of Rhodes, 1709 © The Trustees of the British Museum
(Hard Work, Designed by Renaudot, 1661© The Trustees of the British Museum)
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Hard Work, Designed by Renaudot, 1661© The Trustees of the British Museum
(The Humiliation of Louis XIV, 1689 © The Trustees of the British Museum)
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The Humiliation of Louis XIV, 1689 © The Trustees of the British Museum

The history of Louis XIV is told through the British Museum's collection of medals and manuscripts, drawings and artefacts from the British Library and the V&A. The French king wanted his public profile to be that of a benevolent and victorious monarch – a Sun King – but as the nation endured war after war and defeat after defeat the medals' designs became less positive. The collection also includes satirical medals from elsewhere in Europe which mock the official French examples. The exhibition is in Room 69a.

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