In 1663, Charles Le Brun was commissioned by King Louis XIV to decorate the Louvre’s Gallery of Apollo. The painter designed several compartments dedicated to painting, framed by stucco statues. The four sculptors chosen to create them were each assigned a portion of the vault: François Girardon to the south-west, Gaspard Marsy to the north-west, Balthazar Marsy (Gaspard’s brother) to the north-east, and Thomas Regnaudin to the south-east. From 1663 to 1667, the artists produced groups of captives from models supplied by Le Brun. Up above, the “Captives of America” by Balthazar Marsy.