Les Peintres et Sculpteurs du Roi et L’ « Expertise Artistique » Sous Louisxiv

At the crossroads of institutions, markets ands discourses, artistic expertise under the reign of Louis XIV has not been thoroughly studied. So-called "experts" belonged to the judiciary field: they were called upon to describe, attribute and evaluate paintings and sculptures in probate inventories or in the context of judiciary actions. Their appointment was a real performative act, since experts were chosen by the judge or the parties, without definite criteria. Therefore, experts were often - but not always - artists, either guild masters or academicians.