It would seem a supposed painting of Madame du Barry was placed in the Comte de Provence's apartments by a certain courtier with the initials "VR". I wonder who that could be...
Personally I thought the actual depiction of His Majesty a bit much, since any literate person looking at the picture would know that the swan is supposed to be Jupiter, king of the Gods, i.e. the placeholder for the king of France ... but I suppose so many more people take an interest in these things today who do not have as full an education (sighs). No room for metaphor and allusion, all must be spelled out.
omg!!
Truly a ... mystery, non?
(Er, non, I suppose ...)
Personally I thought the actual depiction of His Majesty a bit much, since any literate person looking at the picture would know that the swan is supposed to be Jupiter, king of the Gods, i.e. the placeholder for the king of France ... but I suppose so many more people take an interest in these things today who do not have as full an education (sighs). No room for metaphor and allusion, all must be spelled out.