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# Marie de' Medici and the child Louis XIII in an engraving, his harsh upbringing and her exile
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/mariia-medichi-i-ee-maloletnii-syn-korol-frantsii-liudovik-xiii/
- Published: 2020-05-15T19:52:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:52:15.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Art, Monarchies, Mores, Paris

Marie de' Medici and her young son, King Louis XIII of France. She arrived in Paris immediately after the murder of Henry IV and took power, which is to say that she, of course, gained more from his death than anyone else. Louis in this engraving may be 8 years old, the age at which the Crown was placed upon him. Perhaps a little older. It is known that his mother was not merely strict with him but thrashed and screamed at him when he disobeyed. Yes, this woman did not deny herself the pleasure of tanning the king's backside. What the image does convey accurately is the gloom of the child king: by all accounts he was a plain and joyless boy, thoroughly cowed by his mamma. It is hardly surprising that at 16 he backed the conspiracy as a result of which Marie de' Medici was sent out of France. Louis XIII was called the Just, and it is fortunate that, thanks to the wisdom and businesslike efficiency of Cardinal Richelieu, the nickname of the Discontented or the Sullen did not stick to him. Incidentally, in adult life he was not tall either, though his face grew far more pleasing than that of the bloated little old man, a foetus of a king, in the engraving.