Louis xi visiting the cardinal jean la balue, his secretary of state, whom he had arrested. La balue had been accused of having intrigued against his king by entering into an alliance with charles the bold. La balue was imprisoned in 1469 in the castle of loches (according to other sources, in the castle of onzain near blois) where he stayed during eleven years until 1480. A legend tells that he was locked into a cage in which he could neither stand up nor lie down. The picture’s dedication "to cain" might refer to the parisian sculptor auguste cain (1821-1894), of the same generation as gérôme, who was a sculptor himself. Date: 1883. Dimensions: 50 x 42 cm. Medium: oil on mahogany panel.
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