King Louis XVI of France, bust-length, wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of Saint Esprit and the Order of Saint Louis, with a Fleur de Lys embroidered drape over his right shoulder

Joseph Boze studied in the South of France and then in Paris, where he probably worked with the pastelist Maurice Quentin de la Tour. He was closely associated with the French court in the years leading up to the Revolution. The present portrait is one of several versions that Boze painted of the King and was almost certainly done after his execution in 1793.