''Portrait of Louis Philippe I'' is an 1834

portrait painting Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

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 ...

François Gérard François Pascal Simon Gérard (, 4 May 1770 – 11 January 1837), titled as Baron Gérard in 1809, was a French painter. He was born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador, and his mother was Italian. A ...

. It depicts the reigning French king

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

in the uniform of the

National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...

with a copy of the

Charter of 1830 The Charter of 1830 () instigated the July Monarchy in France. It was considered a compromise between constitutional monarchy, constitutional monarchists and republicanism, republicans. History After three days of protests in July 1830 ...

. Louis Philippe, a distant cousin of the previous monarch

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

, came to power following the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of 1830. Gérard was adept at accommodating himself to the changing rulers of France, having previously produced numerous portraits of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Bonaparte Dynasty The House of Bonaparte (originally ''Buonaparte'') is a former imperial and royal European dynasty of French and Italian origin. It was founded in 1804 by Napoleon I, the son of Corsican nobleman Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Buonaparte (née ...

and then the royal family during the Restoration period. It was based on a painting produced for the City Hall of Paris in 1831 which was later destroyed. The painting was commissioned by the authorities in 1833 for 6,000

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 ...

. Today the painting is 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 ...

. Another version is now in 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 ...

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 ...

.https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/000PE001268?mainSearch=%22%20Louis-Philippe%20Gerard%22&last_view=%22list%22&idQuery=%22e6c1527-efad-d2d-51a4-e0cf8a83bd7c%22

References

Bibliography

* Hensel, Tina. ''Das Bild der Herrscherin: Franz Xaver Winterhalter und die Gattungspolitik des Porträts im 19. Jahrhundert''. Walter de Gruyter, 2023. * Price, Munro. ''The Perilous Crown: France Between Revolutions, 1814-1848''. Pan Macmillan, 2010. 1834 paintings Paintings by François Gérard Paintings in the Palace of Versailles 19th-century portraits Portraits of men Cultural depictions of Louis Philippe I {{1830s-painting-stub