Nicolas Fouquet
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Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormou
Portrait by Charles Le Brun
Portrait of Marie-Madeleine de Castille, the spouse of Nicolas Fouquet.
Cardinal Mazarin
The entrance façade of Vaux-le-Vicomte
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
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Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the cou
Nicolas Fouquet
…even by the standards of the 17th century. For example, the officials charged with the investigation answered directly to Fouquet's arch-enemy, Jean-Baptiste Colbert; the trial was held before a special court where judges and prosecutors were handpicked by Colbert for being hostile to Fouquet and sympathetic to the…
Portrait de Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1655) by Philippe de Champaigne
Colbert en grande tenue by Claude Lefèbvre, 1666
Bust of Colbert by Antoine Coysevox, Paris, Louvre
The tomb of Colbert, by Antoine Coysevox and Jean-Baptiste Tuby, 1685, in Église Saint-Eustache, Paris