DAVID, Jacques-Louis
(b. 1748, Paris, d. 1825, Bruxelles)

Louis XVI Showing the Constitution to his Son, the Dauphin

1792
Graphite, 180 x 110 mm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

This drawing is from Album 7, folio 38 verso.

In the spring of 1792 David received a most unexpected commission. This was to paint the king in the act of showing the constitution to his heir, the Dauphin. David was certainly no royalist and the fact that he actually started work on the picture meant that he thought that it could be a positive contribution to the course of the moderate Revolution. As well as studies for Louis XVI Showing the Constitution to his Son, the Dauphin, David also made drawings for an Allegory of the French People Offering the Crown and Sceptre to the King. These paintings were never realized.