Philippe Auguste et Agnès de Méranie

This painting by Merry-Joseph Blondel, completed in 1825, depicts Philip Augustus and Agnes of Merania. It belongs to the troubadour and historicizing taste of the nineteenth century, which restaged royal figures of the Middle Ages in theatrical and sentimental compositions. The subject refers to one of the best-known episodes of the reign of Philip II Augustus, surrounding his marriage to Agnes of Merania and the political and religious tensions that followed. Although it is not a contemporary work from the time of the events, the painting illustrates how French history painting helped shape a romanticized image of the Capetian past.