Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765)

Louis the Dauphin of France, son of Louis XV and father of the future Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X, was one of the most important dynastic figures of the French eighteenth century despite never becoming king, dying in 1765 at the age of thirty-six. La Tour's 1761 pastel depicts him at thirty-one, four years before his death, in the final period of his influence at court. Louis was known for his genuine piety and his opposition to the Enlightenment philosophes, placing him in cultural terms at odds with much of the world that produced La Tour's most celebrated portraits. The Musée Antoine-Lécuyer holds this work as part of its comprehensive La Tour collection, alongside portraits of the Dauphin's relatives and contemporaries at the French court.

Pastel on paper, with La Tour's full range of layering and surface richness deployed for a major royal sitter. The Dauphin's formal dress and bearing require handling the complex insignia of his royal rank while maintaining the psychological directness that distinguishes La Tour's portraits from more conventional court imagery.