Louis XVI Giving His Instructions to La Pérouse

Louis XVI Giving His Instructions to La Pérouse (French: Louis XVI donnant ses instructions à La Pérouse) is an oil on canvas history painting by the French artist Nicolas-André Monsiau, from 1817.^[1]

Louis XVI Giving His Instructions to La Pérouse
Artist	Nicolas-André Monsiau
Year	1817
Type	Oil on canvas, history painting
Dimensions	172 cm × 227 cm (68 in × 89 in)
Location	Palace of Versailles, Versailles

History and description

It depicts Louis XVI issuing instructions to the French Naval officer and explorer Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1785 before he departed on his mission to travel around the world, which took in many countries before the expedition was wrecked at the Solomon Islands in 1788.^[2] The mission was seen as a riposte to the discoveries of the British explorer James Cook. Also present in the scene is the Marquis of Castries, Minister for the Navy

The painting was produced following the Second Bourbon Restoration in 1815 and portrays a nostalgic view of the Ancien Régime before the French Revolution. The work was ordered by the French monarch Louis XVIII, the younger brother of the monarch portrayed. It was commissioned for 4,000 Francs for the royal residence the Tuileries Palace in Paris. It featured in the Salon of 1817 at the Louvre. It is now in the collection of the Palace of Versailles.^[3]