The figure of Gaston d’Orléans has been seen in a negative light from the time of his death right up until modern historiography. This article traces the history of this image down the centuries, the interactions between historiography, memoirs and fiction are studied, bringing to light the key issues underlying Gaston’s reputation, a subject of controversy even at the time of the orations given at his funeral in 1660. The negative image of him in the political sphere as seditious, muddleheaded and indecisive, which still persists today, conflicts with the more favourable one stressing his qualities as a patron of the arts and a collector. Such complexity, together with the contradictory nature of his image, can be explained not only by his royal status but also by his own relationship with the world and his great culture, which his contemporaries held up as mirroring a true honnête homme.