Peacock

The Sun King lived to dazzle, dominate, and be adored.

Louis XIV of France constructed his entire reign around spectacle and self-glorification — from the Palace of Versailles, designed as a permanent stage for his magnificence, to the elaborate court rituals that made even his morning rising a theatrical performance. He styled himself the Sun King, commissioned thousands of portraits and sculptures of himself, and used fashion, ballet, and art as instruments of personal radiance and political control. No figure in Western history more perfectly embodies the peacock's insatiable hunger for visual splendor, admiration, and the center of all attention.