Cardinal numbers
What a good loan show can do
SPHINX in scarlet, demon intriguer against a beloved queen, ruthless foil for D'Artagnan and his swashbucklers. The picture of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) that Alexandre Dumas had such fun creating in “The Three Musketeers” is irresistible and indelible. But it is not the image in this remarkable show*. With intelligence and aplomb, “Richelieu: Art and Power” focuses on the cardinal-duke's key role in French high culture during the two decades after 1624, when as minister to a stubborn and vacillating Louis XIII he was the most important man in France.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Cardinal numbers”
From the November 9th 2002 edition
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