Related: To further consolidate her authority as Regent of the Kingdom of France, Marie decided to impose the strict protocol from the court of Spain. Growing up in Florence near the height of the Medici clans powers, the young Marie was friends with many Florentine masters. Henry obliges; his helmet and shieldnow the playthings of two tender cherubslie at his feet. While the other paintings were completed at Rubens's studio in Antwerp, The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de' Medici was designed and painted entirely by Rubens on the spot to replace another, far more controversial depiction of Marie's 1617 expulsion from Paris by her son Louis. 1573, Florence, Italy; d. 1642, Cologne, Germany Born into the powerful and influential Medici family, renowned bankers and patrons of the arts, Marie de Medici was the daughter of Francesco I de Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, and Joanna of Austria, a Hapsburg archduchess. More than once, the artistic license of the painter was curbed in order to portray Marie in the right light. Marie must have grown soft in her later years, because she couldnt see just how far Richelieu had sunk his teeth into the king. But her most extravagant move was just around the corner. They are getting richer, they said, at our expense. The ultimate extension of the ruffs, or wide pleated collars, that were so popular among the wealthy in the sixteenth century was the Medici collar. The codex includes 3 full-size illuminations, 42 full-page miniatures, countless historiated or golden initials, and borders feature Flemish and Italianate flowers. During and after the regency, Marie de Mdicis played a major role in the development of Parisian artistic life by focusing on the construction and furnishing of the Luxembourg Palace, which she referred to as her "Palais Mdicis". [26] WebAfter 1617, Maria de' Medici lived, with many vicissitudes, a life full of intrigue, which she sometimes carried to conspiracy. One year later (10 April 1578) Grand Duchess Joanna heavily pregnant with her eighth child fell from the stairs in the Grand Ducal Palace in Florence, dying the next day after giving birth to a premature stillborn son. He creates equality between all of the figures in the painting by cleverly balancing corporeal and ethereal space.[43]. [19] Early in his career, Rubens studied under Flemish artists such as Otto van Veen,[20] but his most notable influences come from the time he spent in Italy where he studied ancient sculpture and the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian, and Veronese. Rubens did not include many of the negative aspects of the event, fearing that he would offend the Queen, which resulted in the paintings non-realistic nature. Direct link to David Alexander's post This matter is addressed , Posted 3 years ago. The Catholic fanatic Francois Ravaillac assassinated the king. [9] (See #Henry IV Cycle below). After having obtained the annulment of his union to Margaret of Valois in December 1599,[4] Henry IV officially started negotiations for his new marriage with Maria de' Medici. In the spring of 1617, Louis finally ousted his mother from the throne in a coup detat, exiling her to the remote Chateau de Blois and executing her ally Concino Concini in the process. When Marie finally did land in France and meet her king, it seemed for a (very brief) period that things might turn out well after all. Marie receives ultimate vindication by being re-admitted to the Council of State in January 1622. She was not crowned Queen of France until the day before her husband's assassination. Her body was brought back to the Basilica of St Denis and buried without much ceremony on 8 March 1643, and her heart was sent to La Flche, in accordance with the wish of Henry IV who wanted their two hearts to be reunited. [70], This painting commemorates Marie taking over the government as new regent, and promoting long-term plans for peace in Europe by way of marriages between royal houses. As far as things went, Marie should have felt incredibly lucky to have escaped Concinis fate, but that didnt mean she was happy in her gilded cage. The information about the commission in the contract Rubens signed is far from detailed and focuses mainly on the number of pictures in the cycle dedicated to the Queen's life, and is far less specific when it comes to the cycle praising her husband Henry IV. In particular, she tried to attract several large-scale artists to Paris: she brought in The Annunciation by Guido Reni, was offered a suite of Muses painted by Giovanni Baglione, invited the painter Orazio Gentileschi (who stayed in Paris during two years, during 16231625), and especially the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, who was commissioned by her to create a 21-piece series glorifying her life and reign to be part of her art collection in the Luxembourg Palace. Her visit to Amsterdam was considered a diplomatic triumph by the Dutch, as it lent official recognition to the newly-formed Dutch Republic; accordingly, she was given an elaborate ceremonial royal entry, of the sort the Republic avoided for its own rulers. For example, how she overcomes the rebellions and the disorders of the State. In short, Marie was in for an extremely rude awakening. So from birth, Marie would have led a life more ornamental than mortal. WebSourced quotations by the French Monarch Catherine de' Medici (1519 1589). [108] The Queen and Louis XIII are depicted floating in heaven, connected by the symbol of concordia, which demonstrates her sons forgiveness and the peace that was reached between them. After formative years that would corrupt even the purest mind, Marie developed some disturbing coping mechanisms. 206 There is in gardens a plant which one ought to leave dry, although most people water it. [72] Marie hoped for her son, Louis XIII, to marry the Spanish Infanta Anne and for her daughter Elizabeth to marry the future king of Spain, Philip IV, possibly resulting in an alliance between France and Spain. 1989. Louis' mother, Marie, acted as his regent as commanded by the Frankish Salic law in case of an infant ruler. After her disembarkation, Marie continued her trip, arriving at Lyon on 3 December. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. [3] It has also been suggested that Rubens prepared a number of oil sketches, by the request of Louis XIII, the son of Marie de' Medici and successor to the throne, which may have influenced the Queen's decision to commission Rubens for the cycle by the end of the year 1621. At this time Henry IV was about to depart to fight in the War of Succession over the United Duchies of Jlich-Cleves-Berg; the coronation aimed to confer greater legitimacy on the Queen from the perspective of a possible regency which she would be called upon to provide in the absence of the King. Louis looks upwards to his mother for guidance on how to steer the ship of state. [34], The cycle's second painting, The Birth of the Princess, represents Medici's birth on 26 April 1573. In the left corner, however, the new ruler himself discusses clemency with a few advisers. Why was Henry VI given a portrait of Marie, instead of Marie herself? [35] WebAfter her husbands death-by-joust, Catherine took the image of a broken lance as her personal emblem, inscribed with the words, lacrymae hinc, hinc dolor (from this come my tears and my pain). There was a procession led by two mounted trumpeters, and a large temporary structure was erected on an artificial island in the Amstel River especially for the festival. When a European king needed a wife, he didn't make the rounds of all the courts with available princesses. Power Deferred In 1559, her eldest son, Francis II, came to the throne at just 15 years old. Below, Poseidon, three Nereids, a sea-god and Triton rise from the sea, after having escorted the future Queen on the long voyage to procure her safe arrival in Marseilles. However, the caduceus, which is seen in six other paintings in the cycle, has also been associated with peace and harmony. [127] The painting shows Henry parading into Paris as a victorious Roman emperor holding an olive branch, the symbol of peace. Well, the hits just kept on coming. In The Consignment of the Regency, Henry IV entrusts Marie with both the regency of France and the care of the dauphin shortly before his war campaigns and eventual death. He also sold her a famous rosary, captured in Brazil. Was this a common practice? Hymen holds in his left hand a flaming torch, symbolizing the ardor of love, while Cupid extols the virtues of the Medici princess. Rubens was forced to remove these mythical figures and replace them with three generic soldiers. She is conducted to the altar by the Cardinals Gondi and de Sourdis, who stand with her along with Mesieurs de Souvrt and de Bethune. In one of his letters the artist describes the theme as "so large and magnificent that it would suffice for ten galleries". [82] Anna, at age fourteen the older of the two, turns back as if to take leave of Spain, while France gently pulls her by the left arm. One year after the end of the Estates General, a new rebellion of the Prince of Cond allowed his entry into the Conseil du Roi by the Treaty of Loudun (3 May 1616), which also granted him the sum of 1,500,000 livres and the government of Guyenne. Louis, who wasnt exactly famous for his sweet disposition in the first place, grew intensely humiliated under mommys thumb, and he got a brutal revenge. However, a few weeks later, Henrietta d'Entragues also produced a son, and Henry not only made just as much fuss over this son but declared that he was better-looking, not fat and dark like Louis and the Medici. Rather than accept this as a depiction of Marie as Justice, some hold that the real subject of the painting is the "return to earth of Astraea, the principle of divine justice, in a golden age. As one of her first acts, Marie reconfirmed Henri IV's Edict of Nantes, which ordered religious tolerance for Protestants in France while asserting the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church. All Rights Reserved. During this time, the Protestants obtained a reprieve of six years to the return of their places of safety to the royal power. After Marie's banishment in 1631, the project was to be completely abandoned,[123] which seems a travesty seeing as Rubens was very optimistic about the project and its effects on his career; "I have now begun the designs of the other gallery which, in my judgment, because of the nature of the subject will prove to be more splendid than the first so that I hope I shall rather gain [in reputation] than decline. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The fact that the Henry IV series was not realized can be attributed in part to Marie de' Medici being permanently banned from France by her son in 1631. Her sister and aunt flank Marie while two trumpets are blown simultaneously by an ethereal Fame, announcing her arrival to the people of France. Rubens has again, turned something ordinary into something of unprecedented magnificence. Honor de Balzac, in his essay Sur Catherine de Mdicis, encapsulated the Romantic generation's negative view. The ceremony is officiated by Cardinal Joyeuse. France and Spain present the young princesses, aided by a youth who is probably Hymen. The marriage of Henry IV with Maria de' Medici represented above all, for France, a solution to dynastic and financial concerns: it was said that the French king "owed the bride's father, Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had helped support his war effort, a whopping 1,174,000 cus and this was the only means Henry could find to pay back the debt"[8] In addition, the Medici familybanking creditors of the Kings of Francepromised a dowry of 600,000 cus d'or (2 million livres including 1 million paid in cash to cancel the debt contracted by France with the Medici bank),[9] which earned the future Queen the nickname "the big banker" (la grosse banquire) from her jealous rival, Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, Henry IV's current matresse-en-titre. Borders feature Flemish and Italianate flowers something of unprecedented magnificence crowned Queen of France until day... The Romantic generation 's negative view a European king needed a wife he. 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