Portrait of Louis XVIII (c. 1822): Art, History and Details

Portrait of Louis XVIII (c. 1822) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin (French, 1759–1832).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

As the official miniaturist for the French court of Louis XVIII, Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin produced portraits of many elite personalities. This miniature features Louis Stanislas Xavier, King Louis XVIII, in military costume. Taking the throne after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis ruled from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief period in 1815 when Napoleon escaped from exile and regained power. This type of official portrait in miniature was useful as a diplomatic gift and was probably commissioned in large numbers. In fact, there are two versions of this miniature in the museum's collection, one in enamel and this one in watercolor on ivory. The king's medals and honors are conspicuously depicted in this portrait. On the left side of his blue military jacket is the large silver star of the Order of the Holy Ghost placed above the star of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Lazarus. The cross of Saint Louis is suspended from a red ribbon looped through the button hole, above which hangs from a green ribbon an incomplete depiction of the star of Saint Lazarus. All of these orders were established by Louis's royal predecessors and had been abolished during the years of revolution in the late 18th century. Louis XVIII reinstated the orders and worked to reestablish and expand their membership during his reign. The recipient of this miniature would have seen the various medals and acknowledged the sitter's royal lineage and monarchic power. Ashley Bartman (May 2014)

Object facts

• Title: Portrait of Louis XVIII
• Date: c. 1822
• Creator attribution: Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin (French, 1759–1832)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Portrait Miniature
• Technique: watercolor on ivory in a gilt metal and enamel frame
• Dimensions: Framed: 5.8 x 5.2 cm (2 5/16 x 2 1/16 in.); Unframed: 3.9 x 3.3 cm (1 9/16 x 1 5/16 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1942.1134

Collection credit

The Edward B. Greene Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art. Portrait Miniatures; The Edward B. Greene Collection. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951.
• Pappe, Bernd. Jean-Baptiste Jacques Augustin: 1759-1832 : une nouvelle excellence dans l'art du portrait en miniature. Verona: Scripta edizioni, 2015.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.