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Louis XVI: Quick Facts

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News •

Rare love letters to French aristocrat shed light on Louis XVI maritime mystery • Oct. 30, 2026, 6:04 AM ET (The Guardian)

Facts

Also Known As Louis-Auguste, duc de Berry • Louis Capet • Berry, Louis-Auguste, duc de • Citizen Capet
Born August 23, 1754 • Versailles • France
Died January 21, 1793 (aged 38) • Paris • France
Title / Office king (1774-1792), France
House / Dynasty house of Bourbon
Notable Family Members spouse Marie-Antoinette • son Louis XVII • brother Charles X • brother Louis XVIII • sister Elizabeth of France

Photos and Videos

Portrait of Louis XVI by Antoine-Francois Callet, 1786, showing the king in a red coat with royal decorations, against a dark background.
Marie-Antoinette
Louis XVI receiving Benjamin Franklin
Louis XVI: Execution by guillotine
Louis XVI, detail of a painting by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis, c. 1780s; in the Chateau de Versailles, France.
Painting of the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, showing a large crowd, soldiers, and a guillotine on a raised platform with officials preparing for the beheading.
Black and white illustration of French revolutionaries storming the Bastille, with armed crowds, cannon, smoke, and the fortress gate in the background.
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Painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres showing Joan of Arc in armor holding a banner at an altar during the coronation of Charles VII in Reims Cathedral, with figures praying behind her.
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Full-length portrait of Cardinal Richelieu by Philippe de Champaigne, showing him in red clerical robes holding a red book, standing beside a balustrade with a draped curtain behind.
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Portrait of Napoleon III in a dark military uniform with gold epaulettes, a red sash, and medals, set against a deep red background. Painted by Hippolyte Flandrin.
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Portrait of Georges Clemenceau wearing a suit and a wide-brimmed hat, looking to the left with a serious expression.
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Charles Le Brun: Portrait of King Louis XIV
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Jacques-Louis David
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