Portrait of King Louis XIII of France
Frans Pourbus·1611
Historical Context
Frans Pourbus the Younger's 1611 portrait of King Louis XIII of France depicts the young king who was only ten years old at the time, having ascended the throne after his father Henri IV's assassination in 1610. Pourbus served as court painter to Marie de' Medici's regency government, documenting the French royal family with the meticulous precision that made him the preeminent court portraitist in Europe.
Technical Analysis
Pourbus' oil-on-canvas technique renders the young king's elaborate court costume with photographic precision, every detail of lace, embroidery, and jewelry recorded with documentary exactitude. The formal composition and neutral background follow the conventions of official royal portraiture.
Provenance
Marie de Medici; Philippe III of Spain; W. J. Brigstocke of Carmarten; Josiah Wedgwood III (1795-1880) of Leith Hill Place, Surrey; Margaret Wedgwood (1843-1937), wife of Rev. Arthur Charles Vaughan-Williams (1834-1875); Vaughan-Williams family of Tanhurst House, Leith Hill, Surrey; Mark Weiss; Commissioned in 1610 by Marie de Medici; Philippe III of Spain; W. J. Brigstocke of Carmarten; Josiah Wedgwood III (1795-1880) of Leith Hill Place, Surrey; By inheritance to Margaret Wedgwood (1843-1937), wife of Rev. Arthur Charles Vaughan-Williams (1834-1875); By inheritanace to the Vaughan-Williams family of Tanhurst House, Leith Hill, Surrey; Acquired at the hotel Drouot in 2002 by Mark Weiss; The Weiss Gallery, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003.
