1804
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Portrait of Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, later King of the French is a 1804 unspecified by Richard Cosway, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a young man in a dark coat, his face lit softly against a plain background. His expression is calm, almost guarded. This is Louis-Philippe, painted while he was living in England as an exile. He’d later become king of France, but in 1804, he was just a nobleman waiting out Napoleon’s rule. The artist, Richard Cosway, was known for small, delicate portraits—this one feels intimate, like a private moment. If you like this quiet style, look up *Richard Cosway (British, 1742–1821)*.
Louis-Philippe (1773–1850, king of the French 1830–48) was the son of Louis-Philippe Joseph, duc d’Orléans, who was known as Philippe-Egalité during the French Revolution. The Orléans family was a branch of the House of Bourbon. This work was painted while Louis-Philippe was in exile and living in England from 1800 until 1815, when Napoleon abdicated. He finally succeeded Charles X as king of France in 1830. During the February Revolution of 1848, Louis-Philippe was again forced into exile in England where he died two years later. Richard Cosway had painted Louis-Philippe (as well as his…
Without DNA analysis it is impossible to know to whom the hair belonged, though the most likely candidate is Louis-Philippe himself.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Richard Cosway (5 November 1742 – 4 July 1821) was a leading English portrait painter of the Georgian and Regency era, noted for his miniatures.
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