Portrait of Louis Dauphin of France with a Plan of the Siege of Tournai

This portrait of the Dauphin Louis of France, son of Louis XV, depicts the heir to the French throne alongside a plan of the Siege of Tournai — a French victory in the War of the Austrian Succession in 1745, at which the Dauphin was present in an honorary military capacity. Charles Joseph Natoire painted the portrait in 1747, two years after the siege, when the Dauphin's military association with a French triumph was a matter of patriotic pride. The painting is now in the Museum of the History of France at Versailles, the institution most concerned with preserving images of French royal history. Natoire's willingness to accept such official royal commissions alongside his more characteristic decorative work shows the breadth of his practice. The siege plan as a portrait attribute was a standard device in military portraiture, associating the sitter with specific military events and projecting dynastic and national strength. The Dauphin Louis died before ascending the throne; he was the father of Louis XVI.

The portrait integrates the military attribute — the plan of Tournai — directly into the composition, requiring Natoire to balance the formal demands of royal portraiture with the narrative specificity of the military reference. The Dauphin's figure is posed with the dignity appropriate to his rank, and the palette combines the warm tones of court dress with the cooler cartographic blues of the siege plan.