In this compositional study Louis XIII, dressed in an ermine-trimmed robe and wearing a crown, kneels on a bank of clouds and is presented by a bearded pope to the Virgin who holds a cross and floats on clouds above them. In the lower left, two male figures cower, one holding a snake, as a female figure bears down on them. The scene is populated with angels, cherubs, and past popes. He continues artistic devices made popular during the Baroque period in his portrayal of the characters’ expressive and dramatic poses; but the thin washes and delicate, quivering lines lighten the tenor of this solemn event.

Scholars previously connected this drawing to Natoire’s ceiling painting Apotheosis of Saint Louis (1756, Saint-Louis-des-Français, Rome). However, most writers now suggest the drawing is related to a different, not yet identified, work.

The work is inscribed “Natoire” in brown ink in the lower right.

written by Emma Lyandres, St. Andrews University, Scotland, 2022