THRONE OF JUSTICE

DUVIVIER, Benjamin /BLANC, Jean Le: France, 1774 /1724, Bronze, 60 mm
Obv: Bust of Louis XVI    LUDOVICUS XVI REX CHRISTIANISS
Rev: Throne of Justice, on either side of which stand Religion and Justice revealing throne    HINC SUPREMA LEX
Signed:  B. DUVIVIER F. / I.B.
Ref: Monnaie de Paris, p.298, First Effigy (obverse);  Forrer I, 194-195 (reverse);  Weiss BW117

Louis XVI (1754-1793), King of France (1774-1792), was the grandson and successor of Louis XV. The obverse of this medal was engraved by Duvivier and was likely made in the year of the accession of Louis XVI to the throne, at age 20 in 1774. The reverse, by Blanc, was made in 1724, during the reign of Louis XV, shortly he reached his legal majority in 1723. In 1774 Louis XVI restored political privileges to the Parliaments, which had been restricted to a purely judicial role in 1771. The medal might possibly allude to this event.

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