This ambitious painting of contemporary history celebrating the restoration of the French monarchy in 1814 was made after Edward Bird had already achieved national success and was appointed Historical Painter to Princess Charlotte, the Prince Regent's daughter, in 1813.

On either side of the painting, royal family members and dignitaries look on as Louis XVIII of France and the Prince Regent, later King George IV, meet on the deck of the Royal Yacht at the centre of the composition. Contrasting with the orderly nature of the State event in the foreground, the excited crowd of general public on shore in the background bear all the hallmarks of Bird's lively genre paintings. Dover castle can be seen in the top right corner.

The picture was begun in 1814 and was conceived as part of a pair detailing both the embarkation at Dover and arrival at Calais of Louis XVIII on his return to France after Napoleon had been exiled to Elba*. This marked the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy and the end of Louis' own exile, which had started with the French Revolution and included seven years residence in England, mainly spent at Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire. Bird had permission to sail on the royal yacht with Louis XVIII and made many portrait sketches of those present at the event from life, details he included in the sister painting of Louis' arrival at Calais.

His hope of selling the paintings to the Prince Regent was disappointed despite multiple attempts to persuade him.

*Edward Bird, Arrival of Louis XVIII at Calais, 1814, oil on canvas, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, object number OP121

[From: 'Absolutely Bizarre! Strange Tales from the Bristol School of Artists (1800-1840)', catalogue of an exhibition held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Bordeaux, June 10 to October 17, 2021.]