Flanders / 1611
Portrait of King Louis XIII of France
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Portrait of King Louis XIII of France as painting (Flanders · 1611).
While the color pink has feminine associations now, it was commonly worn by girls and boys alike in the 1600s.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this painting as oil on canvas and credits Frans Pourbus (Flemish, 1569–1622).
The museum's collection notes: Although ten-year-old Louis XIII was king of France, his mother Marie de’ Medici remained in power until the boy officially came of age. Pourbus inscribed the sitter’s age and the painting’s year in the composition: “The holy year 1611 at his age of 10 years.” Marie de’ Medici commissioned this work as she negotiated marriages for her two children to Philip III of Spain and Mary Marguerite of Austria, alliances that led to the European domination of the next two centuries by the Bourbon and Habsburg families.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtPortrait of King Louis XIII of FranceOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.