LOUIS XIV, known as "the Great" or "the Sun King", was born on September 5, 1638 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He was the son of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He reigned from May 4, 1643 until his death on September 1, 1715. His reign lasted 72 years and was the longest reign in the history of France. LUDOVICUS MAGNUS REX CHRISTIANISSIMUS. Effigy of the king, 68 years old and wearing a large wig. Engraved signature: A Benoist Eques AdVurim F. R/. Engraved legend in 5 lines: REGUM MAXIMO - POPULI DELICIIS - HOSTIUM TERRORI - SACRORUM VINDICI - ORBIS MIRACULO. To the great king / Delight of the people / Terror of the enemies / Avenger of the sacred places / Miracle of the universe. At the exergue, ANTONIUS BENOIST NOBILITATI RESTITUTUS MDCCVI. Antoine Benoist, restored to his nobility, 1706. Bronze medal 1706 of the engraver Antoine Benoist* Ø 85 mm (108 g) Original brown leather case, decorated with a frieze of fleurs-de-lis and a rosette in its center. Interior covered with blue silk. Restitution of Antoine Benoist's titles of nobility. Very rare. The bulletin of the Société de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France of 1896, explains that Antoine Benoist probably offered this medal to the king to thank him for having responded favorably to his noble claims. This medal is quoted in the numismatic review of 1947. Reference From Josèphe Jacquiot, curator at the Cabinet des monnaies et médailles of the BnF : Les portraits de Louis XIV gravés sur les médailles des séries métalliques uniformes. Published in the Bulletin de la Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France. Paris, 1967, 1969. pp. 185-201, https://doi.org/10.3406/bsnaf.1969.11790 https://www.persee.fr/doc/bsnaf_0081-1181_1969_num_1967_1_11790 * Antoine Benoist (1632-1717) Valet de la chambre du roi and personal painter of Louis XIV and became the first sculptor in coloured wax of the king. In 1668, he received the authorization to execute wax figures of all the great men of this world and opened the first wax figure museum, more than two centuries before Grévin. He was elected member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1681. He obtained the rank of Knight of Saint Michael, known as Knight of the King's Order. He became known thanks to an exhibition of 43 wax figures representing the characters of the court. By royal permission, they were exhibited throughout France. Their success was such that the Duke of York, who had lived in Paris and knew Antoine Benoist, and who had become King James II, invited him to visit England in 1684, where he executed a new series of wax figures representing the king and his court. After his death in 1717, more than 90 wax effigies are mentioned. Only that of Louis XIV survives. The heads and busts were moulded directly onto the person, then coloured, topped with wigs, provided with enamel eyes and dressed in outfits supplied by the models themselves. The direct moulding on the model made it possible to preserve all the details of the face. This type of sculpture, called ceroplasty, disappeared in France after the death of Louis XIV. These effigies of characters belonging to the Court Circle exhibited in a cabinet on the rue des Saints-Pères had given Antoine Benoist the nickname Benoît du Cercle. Antoine Benoist was also a painter. He painted the portrait of the academician Jacques Buirette (1630-1699) for his reception at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (kept at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris). The latter was his neighbour and Antoine Benoist was the godfather of one of his sons, in 1664. Gabriel Benoist, his son, had the privilege granted to his father to show the Circle of the Court (1717) renewed in his favour. Benoist's works are preserved at the Château de Versailles, in Paris at the Louvre Museum and at the Cabinet des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.