How you can use this image
This image is available to be shared and re-used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND).
You can reproduce this image for non-commercial purposes and you are not able to change or modify it in any way.
Wherever you reproduce the image you must attribute the original creators (acknowledge the original artist(s) and the person/organisation that took the photograph of the work) and any other rights holders.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find more images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
DownloadNotes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
Louis XIV employed the theme of the chariot of Apollo at Versailles and the smaller Grand Trianon to suggest that they were places where the new Apollo, Louis, could rest after a hard day driving the chariot of state. Pictorially and iconographically ‘The Setting of the Sun’ is a grand reworking of the same theme, where the subject of Apollo returning to his beloved is now associated with Louis XV and his mistress Madame de Pompadour. In January of 1752 Madame de Pompadour commissioned a Gobelins tapestry of the same subject. The present picture is the preparatory cartoon for the tapestry. It was an audacious iconographical choice, for by suggesting such a subject, Madame de Pompadour was comparing herself to the famous mistresses of Louise XIV and to France herself.
Title
The Setting of the Sun
Date
1752
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 318 x W 261 cm
Accession number
P486
Acquisition method
acquired by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, 1855; bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace, 1897
Work type
Painting
The Wallace Collection
Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, Greater London W1U 3BN England
-
Pastoral Scene: Shepherd with a Pipe and a Girl Victoria and Albert Museum -
The Cherry Gatherers English Heritage, Kenwood -
Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764), Mistress of Louis XV Victoria and Albert Museum -
The Exchange of Produce English Heritage, Kenwood -
Shepherd and Shepherdess Reposing The Wallace Collection -
Louis-Philippe-Joseph (1747–1793), duc de Montpensier, Later duc d'Orléans National Trust, Waddesdon Manor -
Jupiter and Callisto The Wallace Collection - 67 more
