florida state university college of visual arts, theatre and dance ...

moved away from using churches as tools to promote his authority over potentially subversive
religious groups. Instead he focused on buildings that not only symbolized his divine right but
that also recalled France’s preeminent position in Christendom. By using royal funds to restore
or rebuild these churches, Louis XIII used the buildings as a form of visual propaganda,
promoting the country’s privileged status among all Christian nations.
Scholars have traditionally viewed Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in light of its relation to
Louis XIII’s victory in 1628 over the Huguenots at La Rochelle and the king’s vow in 1638 to
the Virgin Mary, placing France under her protection. 1 More recent studies have moved away
from these interpretations, which place too much emphasis on events only tangentially related to
the church. Among the scholars who have provided new readings of the building is Anne Le Pas
de Sécheval, who briefly considers the church as one of several ecclesiastical structures receiving
special privileges from Louis XIII. 2 She contends that the fathers of the monastery asked Louis
XIII to protect their foundation only in the hopes that he would pay for the church.
Another explanation is provided by Martin Schieder. He argues that in opposition to
royal policy from the dévot party, Louis XIII used the church to demonstrate the legitimacy of
his rule, marking the start of the Bourbon dynasty’s support of sacred architecture. 3 While
Schieder’s thesis mirrors my argument for Saint-Louis-des-Jésuites and the French Oratorians,
his work lacks consideration of other churches supported by Louis XIII. By examining Notre-
Dame-des-Victoires in isolation, he fails to recognize that since 1623 the king had used churches
as political tools to combat religiously motivated groups seeking to subvert his authority. Most
recently Jean-Marie Barbiche examined the monastery of the Augustins Déchaussés from its
origins to its closure during the French Revolution, arguing that its multiple contacts with the
monarchy for nearly one hundred fifty years and its artistic riches dating from the lateseventeenth
and eighteenth century made it one of the principal religious establishments of
Paris. 4 Although Barbiche’s archival-based study lacks an extensive analysis of Louis XIII’s
motives, it offers the most thorough reconstruction of the church and provides careful
documentation of royal support.
Despite their narrowly defined focus, each of these studies has contributed to shaping my
view of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in relation to Louis XIII and as an example of the king’s
involvement with the arts. Still needed, however, is an examination of this building’s unique
position as the last church of a reformed religious order to be given royal support during the
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