The Shoes of the Devil upon Two Sticks, and Louis-Philippe Supporting a Barely Upright Talleyrand

As you can see, old Talleyrand, author of the remark "Whole nations would be horrified if they knew what petty men rule over them", is wearing the orthopaedic footwear of his age.

At the age of 4, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand was punished and sat upon a chest of drawers to serve his sentence, whence he fell and sustained an injury that marked his health for the rest of his life. Talleyrand found it difficult both to stand and to walk; he used a cane and orthopaedic shoes, and had recourse to the help of attendants. Yet it is possible that the tumble from the chest of drawers was merely a family legend, a cover for the hereditary nature of the condition, which passed to Talleyrand from his father; it is known that his uncle suffered from similar difficulties.

However that may be, because of the injury the boy was not destined for military service, and was sent instead to a college and a seminary, where he received an excellent education and laid the foundation of his ecclesiastical and political career.