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Lot Essay
Robert Lefèvre's career as a painter began after his first visit to Paris in 1744. Being suitably impressed by the paintings that he saw there, Lefèvre decided to abandon his career in law and take up painting, first in Caen and later in Paris, under the tutelage of Jean-Baptiste Régnault. He quickly became a popular portrait painter for the ruling class during both the Empire and the Restauration periods.
The original Portrait of Charles X was commissioned by the King in 1825, the year after he succeeded his brother Louis XVIII to the throne. That portrait was moved to the Louvre in 1832, where is remains today. The present painting is a version painted in the artist's studio shortly after the original commission. In it, the King is shown in his coronation robes in the sumptuous interior of the coronation rooms at Reims. The explicit reference made by Lefèvre to Hyacinthe Rigaud's archetypal royal portrait, Portrait of Louis XIV, demonstrates Charles X's royalist leanings. It was this position that made him an unpopular leader and ultimately lead to his abdication of the throne in 1830.
The original Portrait of Charles X was commissioned by the King in 1825, the year after he succeeded his brother Louis XVIII to the throne. That portrait was moved to the Louvre in 1832, where is remains today. The present painting is a version painted in the artist's studio shortly after the original commission. In it, the King is shown in his coronation robes in the sumptuous interior of the coronation rooms at Reims. The explicit reference made by Lefèvre to Hyacinthe Rigaud's archetypal royal portrait, Portrait of Louis XIV, demonstrates Charles X's royalist leanings. It was this position that made him an unpopular leader and ultimately lead to his abdication of the throne in 1830.