Portret van Nicolas Foucquet 1661

This is a print of Nicolas Fouquet, made by Nicolas de Larmessin I in France around 1661. Fouquet was Louis XIV’s superintendent of finance, a position of immense power and access to wealth. The image itself functions as a carefully constructed piece of propaganda. Fouquet is presented as a dignified and competent statesman, his status is reinforced by the heraldic symbols and formal Latin inscription. However, this carefully constructed image belies a more complex reality. Fouquet was later arrested for embezzlement and abuse of power, his fate becoming a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition in the French court. To understand the cultural significance of this work, historians consult not only the visual rhetoric of the image itself, but also archival records from the period: letters, financial documents, and legal proceedings that shed light on the complex web of power, patronage, and corruption in the court of Louis XIV.