Skip to main content

Primary sourcePainting16 October 1793

Marie Antoinette Being Taken to Her Execution

Jacques-Louis David · 16 October 1793

A quick ink sketch by Jacques-Louis David showing Marie Antoinette, shorn and bound, riding in the cart to her execution on 16 October 1793.

This life-drawing is the only known image of Marie Antoinette made on the day of her execution.

Ask Marie Antoinette about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Pen-and-ink sketch in brown-orange ink on pale paper of a woman seated in profile facing left, hair piled high, hands in lap, with a handwritten French caption mounted below on a pale blue card.
Jacques-Louis David, Marie Antoinette Being Taken to Her Execution, 16 October 1793. Louvre, Paris.

About this source

What it is

This is an ink drawing made from life by the painter Jacques-Louis David. He sketched it quickly from a window as Marie Antoinette passed by in the cart (tumbril) taking her to the guillotine on 16 October 1793. The sheet carries a later owner's monogram and an inscription. It is kept in the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Louvre.

Why it matters

David was a leading revolutionary artist, and this sketch shows how the fallen queen looked to someone who supported the Revolution rather than the monarchy. It is one of the only images made of her on the day she died, giving historians a rare, unposed glimpse instead of a formal portrait.

  • How does this rough sketch differ from an official royal portrait?
  • Why might an artist who supported the Revolution choose to draw this moment?
  • What does the drawing leave out about Marie Antoinette's life and death?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Marie Antoinette on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Marie Antoinette sources

Meet the AI Marie Antoinette →
Painting of a woman in a red velvet gown with a plumed hat, seated with a toddler in white on her lap and a young girl leaning against her. A boy in gold-brown satin stands at right, pointing toward a cradle draped in green fabric. Ornate interior with columns, a red cabinet, and a floral carpet.Painting

Primary source

Marie Antoinette and Her Children

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun · 1787

Oil painting of a woman in a white muslin dress with ruffled neckline and gold sash, wearing a straw hat with a grey feather plume and blue ribbons, holding a pink rose against a dark background with a flower arrangement at right.Painting

Primary source

Marie Antoinette in a Muslin Dress

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun · 1783

Handwritten French letter on aged cream paper in brown ink cursive script, page 1 with a blue oval 'Archives Nationales' stamp near the top center and a page number '1' at top right.Letter

Primary source

Letter to Her Brother Emperor Leopold II

Marie Antoinette · 8 September 1791

Front facade of a pale yellow stone neoclassical palace under a blue sky with clouds. It has two stories, a row of tall windows, and tall columns with Corinthian capitals on the central section. Stone balustrades run along the roofline and the sides of a flight of steps, with a bare gravel forecourt in front.Artifact

Primary source

Petit Trianon

Ange-Jacques Gabriel · 1762-1768

A dark blue cover or page with a small gold embossed coat of arms, a crowned double-headed eagle shield, centered within a dark oval border. Likely the cover of the bound volume.Letter

Primary source

Secret Reports of Count Mercy-Argenteau to Maria Theresa

Florimond Claude, Comte de Mercy-Argenteau · 1770–1780

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Marie Antoinette now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions