LOUIS XIV & his son LOUIS, GRAND DAUPHIN by Hyacinthe Rigaud c. 1690Hyacinthe Rigaud was the principle painter for four generations of Bourbon Kings and was commissioned to paint said Bourbon Kings, not any fictional character named “Saint Balthazar”No mythical “Saint Balthazar” that supposedly lived during the time of Christ sat for a portrait in the year 1700…“This is most likely not simply one of three paintings of the kings as semi-historical figures but rather a portrait of a specific man who wished to be depicted as the magnificent figure of Balthazar”SOURCE;Hyacinthe Rigaud was a French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility...He was one of the most important portrait painters during the reign of King Louis XIV...Rigaud owes his celebrity to the faithful support he received from the four generations of Bourbons whose portraits he painted; namely King Louis XIV...He is renowned for his portrait paintings of Louis XIV, and considered one of the most notable French portraitists of the classical period...Hyacinthe Rigaud was a prominent French Baroque painter, best known for his portraits of Louis XIV and other notable figures in 17th and early 18th-century France…There is no historical evidence to suggest that Hyacinthe Rigaud ever traveled to Africa…Rigaud spent the majority of his career in France, particularly in Paris, where he was deeply embedded in the French royal court and artistic circles…His focus was primarily on painting portraits of French royalty, aristocrats, and other important figures of his time…During Louis XIV’s reign, there was a fascination with the “Orient,” which included parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire…This was known as Orientalism, where European courts, including the French, often adopted and adapted Eastern styles and symbols in fashion, art, and architecture…French nobility, especially those close to Louis XIV, sometimes donned Eastern-inspired attire during masquerades, formal portraits, or as part of courtly fashion trends…Hence the turbans…“He [Louis XIV] also had a daughter who was not acknowledged...There was a nun in the Abbaye de Moret who was supposed to be his daughter. She was EXTREMELY SWARTHY, and otherwise resembled him”SOURCE;(Voltaire, “The Age of Louis XIV.: To which is Added, an Abstract of The Age of Louis XV”; 1780)“Some people suspected, and not without reason, that a certain lady in the abbey of Moret was Louis's daughter. She was VERY BROWN, and resembled him in every other respect”SOURCE;(Thomas Pike Lathy, “Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV. Comprising Biography and Anecdotes of the Most Celebrated Characters of that Period, Styled the Augustan Era of France. In Three Volumes.; 1819)“Louis XIV [had] arched eyebrows, aquiline nose, and [a] BROWN complexion”SOURCE;(James Peller Malcom, "Londinium Redivivum Or an Ancient History and Modern Description of London, Compiled from Parochial Records, Archives of Various Foundations, the Harleian Mss. and Other Authentic Sources"; 1802)We are also told that the skin on his WELL PRESERVED corpse was as black as ink...“Louis XIV was also in good preservation, but his skin was as BLACK as ink”SOURCE;(Sir Richard Phillips, "The Monthly Magazine" Vol.13; 1802)To be clear, there is no question that Mummified skin can darken after being exposed to air...But at the same time, as relates to the level of darkness: where you end up, is dependent on where you began....“Louis XIV's swarthy complexion and prominent nose were typically Bourbon"SOURCE;(Richard Wilkinson, "Louis XIV")“Lewis XV was the handsomest youth in France, he had a swarthy complexion”SOURCE;(J. Dodsley, "The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1774"; 1775)Complexion = the natural color, texture, and appearance of a person's SKIN (not hair) especially of the face.LOUIS XIV — “Brown complexion”; “his skin was as black as ink”; “swarthy complexion”LOUISE — “extremely swarthy”; “very brown”LOUIS XV — “swarthy complexion”