Attributed To Jean Baptiste Isabey - The Royal Family At Notre Dame Cathedral In Paris

The Royal Family attending Mass at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris
Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard

H. 27 x W. 22.5 cm;  H. 34.5 x W. 30 cm with frame


The Royal Family is depicted seated, reading a missal during a religious ceremony at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. One can make out the canopy above the king, the chandeliers (perhaps those from the coronation?) in the nave, and the aisles lined with tapestries, with galleries above. King Charles X is clearly visible in the center left, surrounded by the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême, the Duchess of Berry, and likely the Duchess of Orléans on the far right. The king and the Dauphin are wearing the uniform of the King’s Bodyguards as well as the cord and medal of the Order of the Holy Spirit.
This could depict a solemn Mass of the Order of the Holy Spirit celebrated prior to the opening of the Chambers (Pairs and Deputies) in 1824, 1828, or 1830, or a Mass held on the occasion of the Jubilee of 1825, or even the Te Deum celebrated for the capture of Algiers in July 1830, barely a month before the abdication of Charles X.
During the Restoration, Jean-Baptiste Isabey was not immediately admitted to the Tuileries. Louis XVIII nevertheless quickly called upon his talent for several official portraits, as did the Duchess of Berry. Under the reign of Charles X, his title of “Inspector-Draughtsman, Draughtsman of Court Festivals and Performances” made him the most likely candidate for our sketch, a truly unique and precious record of the life of the Royal Family during the Second Restoration.