POURBUS, Frans the Younger
(b. 1569, Antwerpen, d. 1622, Paris)

Portrait of Louis XIII of France at Age Ten

1610
Oil on canvas, 51 x 41 cm
Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence

In 1599, the childless marriage between Marguerite de Valois and Henri IV, king of France, was annulled. Early in 1600, Henri wed Maria de' Medici, and later that year Louis, heir to the throne, was born. Henri was assassinated in 1610; Louis became king, but Maria ruled as regent until he came of age seven years later.