Louis XVI (1754 † 1793), the King of France from 1774 to 1792 was the son of Louis and Maria Josepha of Saxony and husband of Marie-Antoinette (1755 † 1793), Queen of France.
These funerary statues were commissioned by Louis XVIII during the repatriation of the sovereign ashes from the “Cimetière des innocents” in Paris in 1815 in order to celebrate the return of the Bourbons family to the throne of France. Their remains are in the crypt in Saint-Denis, (map of the crypt in Saint-Denis).
The praying statues of the husband and wife, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, were completed in the late 1830’s. The statue shows some anachronistic details about the Empire-inspired dress worn by Marie-Antoinette. The statue of the king wears the costume of his coronation.
Tombstone of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette