An engraving of Louis XIII, King of France. A view of a statue of Louis XIII, showing the King in classical armour with ermine robes embroidered with fleur-de-lis. The figure of the King is pictured standing holding a baton, with a defeated gorgon underfoot, and with the figures of putti above holding wreaths, swords, and trumpets. The statue is shown mounted on a pedestal surrounded by prisoned figures, with a view of soldiers and townspeople lining the route of a procession in the background. With Latin inscription above and with coat of arms and French verses below. Cut down. First state, this plate was later altered to depict Louis XIV, King of France.

This print is lettered across the top: "LOVYS XIII, TRES CHRESTIEN, ROY, DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE,"; in the lower centre: "Aveoir ce Grand Monarque en ce degré supresme, ... // Qui sur ses ennemis se font veoir seulement."; along the bottom: "Dedié Monsieur Brioys, Seigneur de Bagnollet, Conseiller Secretaire du Roy, Maison et Couronne de France, par son tres humble seruiteur, Daret f.ct ex' / Auec priuil. du Roy".  

The print is dedicated to Monsieur Brioys, an advisor to the King, and celebrates the successful siege of La Rochelle and the defeat of Protestantism. The same verse occurs on RCIN 616836.

This print formed part of an album of French royal portrait prints assembled by Cassiano dal Pozzo in Rome and described in an early nineteenth-century inventory of prints in George III's library as Kings of France, Queens and other illustrious Personages. The album was arranged chronologically, with kings and their consorts together, while the latter part of the album was devoted to the female aristocracy of France. It was dismantled later in the nineteenth century and its prints incorporated into the series of Engraved Royal Portraits (organised dynastically).

For more information see Mark McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. I: Ceremonies, Costumes, Portraits and Genre, 3 vols, Royal Collection Trust 2017, part of The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo: A Catalogue Raisonné, cat. no. 1273.