POURBUS, Frans the Younger
(b. 1569, Antwerpen, d. 1622, Paris)

Henri IV

1610s
Oil on canvas, 59 x 44 cm
Private collection

Henri IV (1553-1610) was the first Bourbon king of France (1589-1610), who, at the end of the Wars of Religion, abjured Protestantism and converted to Roman Catholicism (1593) in order to win Paris and reunify France. With the aid of such ministers as the Duke de Sully, he brought new prosperity to France.