Portret van koning Lodewijk XVI en zijn familie 1781 - 1813

This is Jacob Willem Strunck’s engraving of King Louis XVI and his family. Note how the royal family is framed within a perfect circle atop a pedestal. This recalls the classical device of placing great men atop columns to portray them as virtuous, stoic rulers. Yet, beneath the family is not an allegorical scene of triumph or a military victory. Rather, it is a depiction of a modest building, perhaps even a prison. We are reminded that even the most powerful rulers are subject to the ebb and flow of history. The circular frame invites us to consider the cyclical nature of power and the wheel of fortune. Here, the artist may be alluding to an underlying anxiety about the instability of the monarchy. The tension between the idealized portrayal of the royal family and the somber image beneath evokes the precariousness of their reign, a psychological undercurrent reflecting the unease of the era. These symbols will continue to resurface throughout history, reminding us of the eternal dance between power, vulnerability, and collective memory.