Terms and conditions of use
Louis XIII of France
(1622)
Medium
oil on paper on wood panel
Measurements
42.8 × 32.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Everard Studley Miller Bequest, 1959
Gallery location
17th Century & Flemish Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
One of the most celebrated and widely travelled artists of his day, Rubens painted this study of Louis XIII (1601–43) on his visit to France in 1622. Rubens had been called to Paris by Louis’ mother Marie de Medici to execute a series of paintings for the Luxembourg Palace. Probably painted from life, this rapidly painted portrait would have served as the model for other images of Louis painted in Rubens’ studio. Louis XIII or ‘Louis the Just’ was the eldest son of King Henry IV and succeeded to the throne of France at the age of eight after the assassination of his father.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
315-5
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Law, Civics and Protest Portraits
Subjects (specific)
black (colour) brown (colour) collars (neckwear) fur garments gaze (psychoanalytical concept) kings (people) Louis XIII, King of France portrait heads
Provenance
Recorded in the estate inventory of the collection of Diego Duarte (d.1682), Antwerp in 1682 collection of A. Harrison, Worcester, by 1955 subsequently in Paris where acquired by F. Rothmann (dealer-collector) in 1955 sold to Edward Speelman (dealer), London, 1955 purchased by Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, 1956 from where acquired under the terms of the Everard Studley Miller Bequest on the advice of A.J.L. McDonnell, 1959.