Arts

Art at the Library: The Playwright and the Sun King

By Jennifer McClain This is  another in a series on “Treasures at the Library.” Please note that direct photographs of artwork at the library is not permitted. The Malden Public Library’s art collection continues to astound us with an imaginary meeting between two of France’s luminaries: its most famous playwright and the monarch known as “The Sun King.” In the painting “Louis XIV and Moliere,” by Jean-Leon Gerome, Louis XIV is pictured as sharing a meal with Moliere. This remarkable work was purchased by the library in December 1940 with funds from the Elisha and Mary D. Converse Art Fund and represents one of the library’s most notable acquisitions. Gerome, born in 1824, used his imagination for this painting as  Moliere died in 1673 and Louis XIV in 1715 and he  completed this painting in 1863. Yet the two imposing figures in French history did have a complex relationship. Louis XIV benefited greatly from the belief in  divine monarchical rule. At the very young age of 4, he became France’s supreme ruler and went on […]