Moreau le Jeune's large drawing in brown ink and ink wash was the final study in preparation for an engraving to commemorate the king's coronation at the Reims cathedral on 11 June 1775; the drawing, itself, was exhibited at the Salon on 1781. In the study, the king is to be seen seated at the exact center of the necessarily crowded composition as he places his right hand on the Gospels and reads his oath from a book held in his left hand, assisted by two bishops, while the Archbishop of Reims gestures toward him.
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| Marie Antoinette, her sisters-in-law, and ladies of the court. |
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| The resulting engraving. |
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Other depictions of the coronation.
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| Another ink and ink wash study by Moreau le Jeune, 1779. |
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| The setting and details in this depiction, its hand-colored version, and those in the following engraving do not correspond with the actual record of the event, giving the impression that the images may have been "recycled" from those of an earlier coronation, possibly that of Louis XV, and merely re-captioned. |
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| The annointing of Louis XVI at his coronation, by François Joseph Belanger, 1814. (This sketch dated after the Restoration.) |
