This is one of a group of 69 costume designs for the court ballets of Louis XIII, now in the V&A Theatre Collections. The designs, which date from 1615-1635, are from the workshop of Daniel Rabel (1578-1637), the artist responsible for creating costumes for the spectacular entertainments performed by and for the French court. The ballets were based on the social dances of the day, but this was social dance elevated to an elaborate art form which combined choreography with poetry, music, song and pageantry, and included elements of satire and burlesque. The ballets were enormously popular. Most were given at least three performances and all required a great amount of work from their creators and performers: the Ballet de Tancrède of 1619, which used elaborate stage machinery, is known to have had 30 rehearsals. Some professional dancers, actors and singers took part but the majority of the participants were members of the nobility. Many of these aristocratic amateurs were skilled performers, including the King, who adored dancing and devised some of the ballets himself.

The Ballet de la Délivrance de Renaud (The Liberation of Rinaldo) was first performed on 29 January 1617. The libretto, taken from Tasso's poem Gerusalemme Liberata, was created by the poet Etienne Durand, who devised roles for King Louis, his favourite the Duc de Luynes, and members of the Royal Household. The knight Renaud (Tasso's Rinaldo) leaves the mountain of the Demon of Fire and is held captive by the enchantress Armida, but is released through the intervention of Godefrey de Bouillon, leader of the First Crusade. The King, who appeared as both the Fire Demon and Godefrey, represented divine authority on earth.