The House of Bourbon

Henri IV 

*1553-†1610

King of Navarra 1562/’72-1610

King of France 1589-1610

Henri IV

Anonymous, 17th cent. Coll. Chateau de Versailles

Henri IV (1553-1610)

King of France and Navarre in 1589

French School, beginning of the 17th cent. Oil on canvas, 115 Î 99 cm.

Château de Versailles MV 6802.

Louis XIII

Maria de Medicis

*1601-†1643

1610-1643

Regent 1610-1617 / †1642

Maria de Medicis in official dress ~1610

by Frans Pourbus de Jongere

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Inv.SK-A-870. Replica of an original in the Louvre [1]

King Louis XIII in official dress. Between 1622-‘39

By Philippe de Champaigne (1602-75)

Oil on canvas, 194.9 x 114.1 cm. Royal Collection RCIN 404108

Louis XIV

*1638-†1715

1643-1715

Portrait de Louis XIV jeune

Attributed to Ch. Lebrun (1619-1690)

Oil on canas, Metz, Musées de la Cour d´Or

Louis XIV (1638-1715)

Roi de France en 1643, agé de 63 ans, en grand costume royal.

Atelier de Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743). Huile sur toile, 276 Î 194 cm.

Château de Versailles MV 2041

The king in white dress and a blue mantle strewn with golden fleurs de lys lined ermine and a cape ermine with the collar of the Order of the Holy Spirit. At his side the sword of Carlemagne. In his right hand a sceptre. At his right a credence table with a royal crown and a main de justice..

Louis XV

*1710-†1774

1715-1774

Louis XV at the age of 5

by Hyacinthe Rigaud

Louis XV (1710-1774)

Roi de France en 1715, âgé de 20 ans, en grand costume royal.

Peint en 1730 par Hyancinthe Rigaud (1659-1743).

Huile sur toile, 217 Î 194 cm.

Château de Versailles, MV 3750.

The king in white dress and a blue mantle strewn with golden fleurs de lys lined ermine and a cape ermine with the collar of the Order of the Holy Spirit. In his right hand the sceptre of Charlemagne. At his right a credence table with a royal crown and a main de justice.

Louis XV

By Louis Michel van Loo (†1771).

 Oil on canvas, 227 × 184 cm. Palace of Versailles

The king in white dress and a blue mantle strewn with golden fleurs de lys lined ermine and a cape ermine with the collars of the Order of Saint Michel and the Holy Spirit. At his side the sword of Carlemagne. In his right hand a sceptre and in is left hand a black hat with ostrich feathers. At his right a credence table with a royal crown and a main de justice..

Louis XVI

*1754-†1792

1774-1792

Louis XVI in coronation robes

By Joseph Siffred Duplessis, 1777

The king with a blue mantle strewn with golden fleurs de lys, lined ermine and a cape ermine with the collar and cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit, a black hat with ostrich feathers in his right and a sceptre in his left hand. The royal crown on a chair.

Louis XVI in official dress, 1789

By Antoine François Callet

Oil on canvas, 278 ´ 196 cm. Palace of Versailles

The king dressed in a purple mantle strewn with golden fleurs de lys lined ermine and a cape ermine with the collars of the Order of Saint Michel and of the Holy Spirit. In his left hand a black hat with ostrich feathers and in his right hand a sceptre. On a credence table at his right the royal crown and a main de justice. On the back of his throne supported by two fasces, axes inserted, Justitia seated with her scales.

First Republic

21/22.09.1792-18.05.1804

On the proposal of Abbé Gregoire, a member of the National Convention charged with the design of the seal of the Republic, the female figure as a personification of the Republic which would replace the imago of the king, received the name of ‘Liberté’ (Liberty) so that, thus abbé Gregoire, «afin que nos emblèmes, circulant sur le globe, présentassent à tous les peuples les images chéries de la patrie....» (our symbols will show our beloved images of the fatherland all over the world). For that goal she was equipped with a phrygian cap on a pole. On the seal she also supports a fasces symbolizing the Republic (the Commonwealth).

By decree of 15 August 1792 it was decided by the Nationa Convention:

Art. 6 Le sceau de l’Etat sera changé; il portera la figure de la Liberté, armée d’une pique surmontée du bonnet de la Liberté, et pour légende: Au nom de la nation française.

(Art. 6. The seal of state will be changed, it will show the figure of Liberty, armed with a spear crested with a cap of Liberty, and for legend: In the Name of the French Nation.)

After an amendment the legend was changed into  “Au Nom de la République Française”.[2]

First Great Seal of State, 1792

The seal shows a virgin standing upright dressed in a classical chiton, holding a pole crested with a cap of liberty in her left and supporting a fasces, axe on the outside (as was obliged within the pomerium or boundaries of the city) and a rudder of state with her right.

This decree was renewed in 1848 and in 1870 but the personification was always called “Liberty”.

Æ Also see: Marianne

Directoire

1795-1799/03-07

The Directors Barras, Rewbel, and Revelliere-Lépaux

Empire Français

03.05.1804-11.05.1814

Napoleon Bonaparte

Emperor 1804-1815

» L'Empereur des Français Napoléon Ier (1769-1821)

on his throne in 1804

by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)

Artist

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Date

1806

Type

oil on canvas

Dimensions (H × L)

263 × 163 cm

Localisation

Musée de l'Armée, Paris

Numéro d’inventaire

INV 5420, Ea 89.1, 4

The emperor seated,  dressed in white with golden fringes and embroideries, and a red mantle strewn with golden bees and with a golden bordure, lined ermine. On his shoulders a cape also ermine with the collar and star of the Legion d’Honneur. On his head a laurel crown and in his right hand the sceptre of Charlemagne and in his left hand a main de jsutice. His feet resting on a cushion decorated with a thunderbolt.

On the tapestry a golden eagle and the symbols of the ministries of the empire.

Napoleon II

23.VII.1815

Napoleon II in official dress on his throne.

In his right hand an eagle’s sceptre an in his left two blue flowers. On a cushion on his right an orb and a main de justice. At his feet the imperial arms.

Legens: PAR ACTE SUPRÊME DV 23 JUIN 1815 FRANÇOIS CHARLES JOSEPH BONAPARTE PRINCE IMPÉRIAL, ROI DE ROME, GRAND AIGLE DE LA LÉGION D’HONNEUR, GRAND CROIX DE LA COURONNE DE FER, DE LA RÉUNION ET DES TROIS TOISONS D’OR ES RECONNV SOUVERAIN DE L’EMPIRE FRANÇAIS PAR LA CHAMBRE DES CENT JOURS.

Stained window dated Le Mans 1910. Musée de la Légion d’Honneur, Paris.(Foto H.d.V)

Kingdom

03.05.1814-20.03.1815

100 jours Empire

20.03.1815-22.06.1815

Kingdom

22.06.1815-02.08.1830

Louis XVIII

*1755-†1824

1814-1815

Louis XVIII by Louis Gérard

Charles X

*1757-†1836

1824-1830

Louis Philippe I d’Orléans

*1773-†1850

Roi des Français 1830-1848

Louis-Philippe I ^er en 1830

Franz Xavier Winterhalter

Huile sur toile, H. 218 x L. 150 cm

Versailles, Musée national du château et des Trianons

Louis-Philippe I ^er, 1839

By Franz Xavier Winterhalter

Oil on canvas, H. 260 ´ L. 190 cm

Versailles, Musée national du château et des Trianons

Louis Philippe in uniform with  decorations, the cross of the Order of the Holy Ghost and the sash and star of the Legion d’Honneur. On the credence table a crown, sceptre and main de justice and a copy of the charte of 1830

Louis-Philippe I ^er, 1841

 Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Oil on canvas H. 284 ´ W.184 cm

Versailles, Musée national du château et des Trianons

Second Republic

24.02.1848-02.12.1852

La République

J.F. Soitoux, Concours de sculpture de 1848.

A figuré Quai Conti de 1880 à 1962

now Quau Malaquais since 1992

The statue was damaged in 1942 and removed but replaced. In 1962 it was removed again because it was thought to be out of fashion and an “insult to good taste”. In 1992 it was replaced again on the Quai Malaquais at the occasion of the bicentennial of the First Republic.[3]

Second Empire

14.01.1853-01.03.1871

Napoleon III

1852-1870

Napoleon III

By Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-’73)

Napoleon III in military uniform bearing the collar of the Legion d’Honneur. On his shoulders a red mantle strewn with golden bees and lined ermine. In his right a main the justice and the crown and sceptre on a  credence table.

Governement of National Defense

04.09.1870-19.02.1871

Allegory of the Republic on a medal, 1870

The Republic was proclaimed on 4 September 1870 with the decay of Napoleon III and his dynasty. A government of National Defense presided over by General Trochu, governor of Paris and composed of moderate republicans was installed. The war continued and intensified as the government retreats into Paris besieged by the Prussians. A delegation withdrew to Tours. Gambetta joined by balloon on 2 October  1870. But this resistance is futile and extends the misery, causing in particular popular movements in Paris in October. In January 1871, the National Defense Government had to accept the conditions of Bismarck. Paris capitulates, a National Assembly was elected to ratify the peace treaty, and the armistice was signed. Elections were held on February 8 and brought to power a majority of prominent conservatives who met for the first time in Bordeaux on 13 February1871. The government of National Defense then gave him his powers.

Third Republic

23.02.1875-07.1940

A month after the transfer of power to the new goverment a revolt broke out in Paris known as the Paris Commune. This was a radical socialist and revolutionary government that ruled Paris from 28 March to 28 May 1871.

Allegory of the Republic on the Great seal of 1875

also used by the Fourth and Fifth Republic

Allegory of the French Republic, 1880

by Leopold Morice

On the Place de la Republique, Paris

État Français

22.06.1940-1944

Fourth  Republic

1944-1958

Fifth Republic

1958

Marianne of Soitoux 1848

Since 1992 it is on the Quai Malaquais, Paris