Resumen de L'affaire Jabach: charles Le Brun et les tableaux de Louis XIV
Long time consideres to be the founding act of Jean-Baptiste Colbert's artistic policy at the beginning of the personal reign of Louis XIV, the purchase of the prestigious Jabach "collection" on April 20, 1662 was, it is known, the object of complex and mysterious dealings engaged, beginning in 1660. As demonstrated by Antoine Schnapper, originally the "collection" was by no means intended for Louis XIV, but for the Cardinal Mazarin (fig. 2), to whom, the Surintendant Fouquet, with advance financing from a certain Doublet and the direct involvement of Charles Le Brun, thought of offering it. Based on published archives, especially the royal ordinanceof April 20, 1662, discoveres in the archives of the Conseil des Finances, and the posthumous inventory of the financier Jean Doublet -documents which cast a spate of revelatory light on the origin of the King's paintings- it is possible to propose a new reaading of the mysterious Jabach affair, fruit of finnancial stakes as much as political calculations.
