[Born 1786. Still living.]
The eldest son and successor of King Maximilian Joseph. As Crown Prince he took little interest in public affairs, but confined himself to the zealous patronage of the fine arts. Frugal in his personal expenditure, he was extravagant in his purchases of works of art, and in the construction of his celebrated Glyptothek, a building devoted to the reception of the finest works of sculpture. Ascending the throne in 1825, he commenced many economical reforms, but still drew around him, by his munificent patronage, the most celebrated artists of Germany, for the adornment and elevation of his capital. More than one stately edifice and exquisite collection in Munich bear testimony to his love for art and zeal in its promotion. He would have done still more for his city had he been permitted. He lodged the munificent sum of £30,000 in the hands of an English banker to purchase the Elgin marbles, in the event of their rejection by the English government. The sum actually paid for the marbles by England was £35,000. A grandeur is reflected upon this—the finest side of Ludwig’s character. On the other hand, he has lived to become a bigot, to forget his early political reforms, to deal with a rough hand in matters of religion and state, and to shock public opinion by illicit alliances, at the very moment he is expressing a pious anxiety for the restoration of monasteries. In 1848, Ludwig I. abdicated in favour of his son Maximilian, the reigning king. The ex-king is a ruler fit for the middle ages, when the love of art was intense and passionate, when manners were rude and unformed, and the people in fetters, spiritual and bodily.
[By Halbig, 1848.]
382A. Ludwig I. Ex-King of Bavaria.
[Colossal bust, by Ludwig Schwanthaler. Marble. 1840. The original is in the Royal Palace at Munich.]
383. Leopold I. King of the Belgians.
[Born 1790. Still living.]
Head of the House of Coburg. He was educated in Germany, and in 1816, married Charlotte, the daughter of George IV. of England. She died the following year. In 1832, he married a daughter of Louis Philippe of France; and in 1850, she also died. He was called to the sovereignty of Belgium in 1832. Although a foreign prince, and a Protestant ruling over a Catholic country, he has succeeded in winning the respect of all political parties, and the sympathies of all religious sects. He is the type of a constitutional king on the continent of Europe, and his personal influence, in European politics, is considered to be weightier than in proportion to the size of his dominions. He is the uncle of Queen Victoria.
[From the marble by G. Geefs, in Windsor Castle.]
383.* Louise Marie. Queen of the Belgians.