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Portrait of King Louis XVI
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Louis Marie Sicard was a painter at the French Court between 1780 and 1784. The signature "R. Fortin" is a later addition. (Fortin, a French artist who fled to England during the French Revolution, exhibited at the Royal Academy in London misleadingly listing himself as "a member of France's Royal Academy" and "painter to the French King.")
Although well intentioned, Louis XVI (1754-1793) lacked the intelligence and the foresight to cope with the radical changes occurring in France during his reign (1774-1893). He was imprisoned in 1792 and beheaded the following year.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
William T. Walters (?), Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. Walters (?)
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
38.55