Louis XVIII, roi de France et de Navarre (1755-1824)

This 1817 portrait of Louis XVIII at the Louvre represents Gros’s difficult transition from Napoleonic painter to servant of the Bourbon Restoration. Having built his career on Napoleonic glory, Gros struggled to adapt to the restored monarchy’s very different artistic demands, a conflict that contributed to his eventual despair and suicide in 1835. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays monumental scale, vivid reportorial color, Romantic energy in figure groups, combining David's Neoclassical training with the excitement of actual military events.

The royal portrait maintains the technical excellence of Gros’s earlier work while adopting a more conservative, formally correct approach appropriate to Bourbon court taste. Rich coloring and precise detail characterize the rendering.