One reason Louis XIV spent lavishly on the arts was to enhance his own prestige and project an image of grandeur and power. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, used art and culture as a tool for propaganda, promoting himself as a divine ruler and cultivating a sense of awe and reverence among his subjects and foreign powers. By commissioning extravagant works of art and building lavish palaces, Louis XIV sought to solidify his position as an absolute monarch and establish France as a dominant cultural and political force in Europe.
