Memorieprent met portret van Lodewijk XVI after 1793

Lambertus Antonius Claessens made this print of Louis XVI using etching techniques. It’s a memorial image, made at a time when printed images functioned as an important media in times of political upheaval. Consider the context of revolutionary France at the close of the 18th century, when the King was executed by the revolutionaries. This image presents the King in profile, framed as a noble portrait. Below the portrait is the symbol of death: a skull and crossbones. Note the royal crown above it. The inscription below the image reads, ‘He knew how to love, suffer, and forgive.’ The bottom inscription reads, ‘Son of Saint Louis, ascend to Heaven.’ The iconography serves to memorialize the King and cast him in a positive light. The image creates meaning through coded references to the monarchy and to Christian narratives of martyrdom. To fully appreciate this image, historians consult a range of sources, from the popular press of the time to the archives of the monarchy and the revolutionary government. Art is not made in a vacuum: it reflects social and institutional forces.