The Arrival of King Louis XVIII of France at Calais
| The Arrival of King Louis XVIII of France at Calais | |
|---|---|
_-_The_Arrival_of_King_Louis_XVIII_of_France_at_Calais_-_OP121_-_Wolverhampton_Art_Gallery.jpg) | |
| Artist | Edward Bird |
| Year | 1816 |
| Type | Oil on panel, history painting |
| Dimensions | 110 cm × 174 cm (43 in × 69 in) |
| Location | Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton |
The Arrival of King Louis XVIII of France at Calais is an oil on canvas history painting by the English artist Edward Bird, from 1816.[1]
History and description
It depicts the arrival of Louis XVIII, the long-exiled claimant to the throne of France, arriving in Calais, on 24 April 1814, following the downfall of Napoleon.[2][3] Louis, the younger brother of the guillotined Louis XVI, had spent the later stages of the Napoleonic Wars in exile in Regency Britain. The First Bourbon Restoration proved to be short-lived as Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815. It was a companion piece to The Embarkation of Louis XVIII at Dover, which shows the beginning of the voyage.
Bird was a founder of the Bristol School and in 1815 was elected a member of the Royal Academy. He was known for his genre paintings, but his career ended in bankruptcy, and his early death in 1819.[4] The painting is in the collection of the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, which purchased it in 1935.[5] Another version is on display at Burton Constable Hall, in Yorkshire.[6]
See also
- Louis XVIII Raising France from Its Ruins, an 1814 painting by Louis-Philippe Crépin featuring an allegorical depiction of the king's arrival at Calais
References
Bibliography
- Greenacre, Francis. The Bristol School of Artists: Francis Danby and Painting in Bristol, 1810-1840. City Art Gallery, 1973.
- Richardson, Sarah. Edward Bird, 1772-1819. Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 1982.
- Roe, Sonia & Ellis, Andrew. Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in Staffordshire. Public Catalogue Foundation, 2007.
- Wright, Christopher, Gordon, Catherine May & Smith, Mary Peskett. British and Irish Paintings in Public Collections: An Index of British and Irish Oil Paintings by Artists Born Before 1870 in Public and Institutional Collections in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Yale University Press, 2006.