Nicolas Louis François GOSSE
 (Paris, 1787 – Soncourt, 1878)

 Louis XI at the foot of Saint Francis of Paola

 Oil on canvas
 68 x 90 cm

 Related work:
  
 Painting from the 1844 Salon exhibited under No. 830
 Nicolas Gosse was a student of François VINCENT. He appeared at the Paris Salon from 1808 to 1870, obtaining a third class medal in 1819 and a second class medal in 1824. He was made a knight of the Legion of Honor in 1828, promoted to officer in 1870.

 He is responsible for murals in numerous theatres and buildings such as the Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church in Paris and the Palais de Justice in Rennes.

 This autograph copy of the painting exhibited at the Salon of 1844, and mentioned in the collection of Napoleon III in 1858, relates a historical episode that occurred on April 24, 1482 when Louis XI, dangerously ill, believed that Saint Francis of Paola could cure him. The very theatrical staging summons the principal members of the entourage of the King of France including his beloved daughter, Anne de Beaujeu, Duchess of Bourbon.

 The Salon catalogue includes a writing by Philippe de COMMINES:

 "Towards the end of his career, Louis XI, dangerously ill, believed that Saint Francis of Paola could cure him; at his urging and that of the Pope, the saint decided to leave his retreat and went to the castle of Plessis-les-Tours, with his disciples, where the king, supported by his daughter, Anne de Beaujeu, whom he called his angel, and Jacques Coictier, his doctor, threw himself at his feet and said to him, raising his imploring eyes to him: "My father, have pity on the state I am in, and restore my health.

 - I would like to, replied the holy man, but I am nothing on earth but a poor sinner like you, God alone can do everything!

 Behind the king's chair are Oliver the Deer and Tristan the Hermit, Grand Provost; in front Galleoti, astrologer and famous warrior, and near him old Lord Crafford, chief of the archers of the Scottish guard.

 During his illness, our king wore only robes of satin and crimson velvet, lined with good martens.