Louis XIII between Two Female Figures Symbolising France and Navarre

In August 1636 a Spanish army coming down from the Netherlands took the town of Corbie on the Somme, and panic spread as far as Paris. Louis XIII took command himself, and in November his troops won Corbie back. The Louvre suggests this painting, made around 1636 to 1638, may be connected to that campaign. It shows the king as a war leader. He wears half-armour scattered with gold fleurs-de-lis, the white sash of an army commander and a laurel wreath, and he holds the commander's baton. Two women flank him, France and Navarre, the two kingdoms he ruled, each with a shield bearing its arms. His armour is almost identical to one made around 1620 to 1630 and now kept at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris. A second version of the painting belongs to the Palace of Versailles.