Figure from the George S. Stuart collection.

Weighed down by ill health, any chance of vigorous reform or progress was impossible.

Louis XVIII (1755-1824; reigned 1814-1824) was brother to Louis XVI, who had fallen victim to the Revolution in 1792. He spent most of the Revolution and the Napoleonic years in exile in Germany and England. The monarchy was restored following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1814. His reactionary convictions were part of what destroyed the effectiveness of his brother Louis XVI in dealing with the revolution. Once restored as King of France, his reign was one of contradiction and compromise.

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