Abstract: This article sets out to understand the use of equestrian imagery in the context of the education of Louis XIII. The importance accorded to equestrian academies from the end of the sixteenth century explains itself in part by the emergence of a dual model: firstly, that of the prudent monarch and, then, that of the magnanimous coachman. The first model testifies to the primacy given to action and existence, the second promises contemplation, and focuses on the representation of the monarchic essence in its sacred dimension.
