The sitter was the son of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. He was awarded the title King of Rome, which the Emperor declared to be the title of the heir-apparent. On Napoleon I's abdication forllowing his defeat at Waterloo, the Chamber of Representatives and Chamber of Peers recognised the young Napoleon as Emperor. Loyal Bonapartists proclaimed him Napoleon II in Paris on 28 June 1815 but he was formally deposed five days later with the arrival of the Allies in the French capital. He went to Austria where he lived at court and was awarded the title Duke of Reichstadt. He died at the age of 21 at Schönbrunn Palace Vienne, from tuberculosis.