''Louis XVI Giving His Instructions to La Pérouse'' (French: ''Louis XVI donnant ses instructions à La Pérouse'') is an oil on canvas

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

by the French

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

Nicolas-André Monsiau Nicolas-André Monsiau (1754 – 31 May 1837) was a French History painting, history painter and a refined draughtsman who turned to book illustration to supplement his income when the French Revolution disrupted patronage. His ''Nicolas Poussin, ...

, from 1817.

History and description

It depicts

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

issuing instructions to the French Naval officer and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse Commodore (rank), Commodore Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (; 23 August 1741 – ) was a French Navy officer and explorer. Having enlisted in the Navy at the age of 15, he had a successful career and in 1785 was appointed to lea ...

in 1785 before he departed on his mission to travel around the world, which took in many countries before the expedition was wrecked at the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

in 1788. The mission was seen as a riposte to the discoveries of the British explorer

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

. Also present in the scene is the Marquis of Castries, Minister for the Navy The painting was produced following the

Second Bourbon Restoration The Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history during which the House of Bourbon returned to power after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814 and 1815. The second Bourbon Restoration lasted until the July Revolution of 1830, during ...

in 1815 and portrays a nostalgic view of the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

before the French Revolution. The work was ordered by the French monarch

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...

, the younger brother of the monarch portrayed. It was commissioned for 4,000

Francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

for the royal residence the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It featured in the Salon of 1817 at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. It is now in the collection of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

.https://collections.chateauversailles.fr/?permid=permobj_7a882545-9f77-44da-8727-ab690ed3f4f8#/query/c011592e-8662-492e-9c3a-1803ae0eee78

References

Bibliography

* Ferrari, Anna (ed.) ''Versailles: Science and Splendour''. Science Museum, 2025. * Gaziello, Catherine. ''L'Expédition de La Pérouse : 1785-1788: Réplique française aux voyages de Cook''. FeniXX, 1984. {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis XVI Giving His Instructions to La Pérouse 1817 paintings Paintings in the Palace of Versailles Cultural depictions of Louis XVI History paintings Oil on canvas paintings Artworks exhibited at the Salon of 1817