[LOUIS XVI]: (1754-1793)

[LOUIS XVI]: (1754-1793) King of France 1774-92, the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. Executed by guillotine on the Place de la Revolution at the age of 38. A fine antique folio (22.5 x 33.5 cm; image 14.5 x 19.5 cm) colour stipple engraving of King Louis XVI by Francesco Bartolozzi, the circular image depicting the King in a head and shoulders pose wearing a Phrygian cap ( ´bonnet rouge´) and with the coat of arms of the King beneath alongside a printed caption in French. Published by Esnauts and Rapilly, Paris, 1792. A couple of neat splits to the edges of the image area and with a few small tears to the left and lower edges, about VG Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815) Italian engraver who spent a large part of his career in London and is noted for popularising the ´crayon´method of engraving. In 1792 when King Louis XVI was induced to sign a constitution, popular prints were doctored to show him wearing the ´bonnet rouge´, the cap associated with the French Revolution and which, by 1791, had become de rigueur for sans-culotte militants to wear as a sign of their loyalty.