Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity in 17
Portrait by Louis-Michel van Loo, c. 1763
The infant Louis with his governess, grandfather, great-grandfather and father, and the busts of Henry IV and Louis XIII in the background. Madame de Ventadour holds her charge's reins. The portrait, painted for her, commemorates her part in saving the dynasty.
Cours des principaux fleuves et rivières de l'Europe, or "Courses of the main rivers of Europe", composed & printed by Louis XV, aged 8. Education of the young king included geography and printing.
Lit de justice held by young Louis XV; his governess, the only woman in the assembly, sits next to him
Louis XVI was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and Maria Josepha of Saxony, Louis became the new Dauphin when
Louis XV
…argue that he was popular during his lifetime, but that his reputation was later blackened by revolutionary propaganda. His grandson and successor Louis XVI inherited a kingdom on the brink of financial disaster and gravely in need of political reform, laying the groundwork for the French Revolution of 1789…
The young Duke of Berry (right) with his younger brother, the Count of Provence (by François-Hubert Drouais, 1757)
The young duke of Berry painted by Jean-Martial Frédou, c. 1760
Marie Antoinette, queen of France and wife of Louis XVI, with their three eldest children, Marie Thérèse, Louis-Charles and Louis-Joseph (by Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1787)