Rubens designed the scene around the theme of political peace. [69] [107] Marie de' Medici however, emerges as a loving mother, ready to forgive all evils and pain endured. The 43-year-old Queen Mother of France escaped the Chateau by scaling a wall with a rope ladder, then dropped into the arms of waiting conspirators, who rushed her away to another castle. Primarily gray, the sketch shows the king in crimson velvet to stand out in "the most famous of all the battles of Henry IV." Her name is Marie de' Medici, daughter of the Grandduke of Tuscany. The tragedies of both her parents turned her into one of the wealthiest heiresses in Europe and, as she grew up, one of the most eligible bachelorettes on the marriage market. WebSourced quotations by the French Monarch Catherine de' Medici (1519 1589). Maria (now known by the French usage of her name, Marie de Mdicis) left Florence for Livorno on 23 October, accompanied by 2,000 people who made up her suite, and set off for Marseille, which she reached on November 3. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. [128] This painting coincides with Apotheosis and Ascendancy in the Marie cycle. As a comparison, there are within each, two women upon a dais classical pillars, swathes of luxuriant cloth, genuflecting personages with arms extended, and allegorical figures present. She is led and protected by a representation of France, and guided by illustrations of Night and Aurora. 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. Afterwards she was offered an Indonesian rice table by the burgomaster, Albert Burgh. [111] Her son who is obscured in part by the Wing of Time, kneels before the queen and presents her with the token of amity, the clasped hands and flaming heart within a laurel crown. Wikipedia. In addition, her stepmother brought a female companion to the Palazzo Pitti for Maria, a young girl named Dianora Dori, who would be renamed Leonora. [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. After her sister's marriage in 1584 with Vincenzo Gonzaga, heir of the Duchy of Mantua, and her departure to her husband's homeland, Maria's only playmate was her first cousin Virginio Orsini, to whom she deferred all her affection. His victorious army rushes in chaotically behind him; horses rearing and riders falling. [77], The Victory at Jlich shows the only military event that the Queen participated in during her regency: the return of Jlich (or Juliers in French) to the Protestant princes. The ceremony is officiated by Cardinal Joyeuse. Cupid and King Henry discussing the portrait of Marie de Medici (detail), Peter Paul Rubens. The celebrations were attended by 4,000 guests with lavish entertainment, including examples of the newly invented musical genre of opera, such as Jacopo Peri's Euridice. She intended to plead her case there, but the escape was only a political trap set by her son, who had withdrawn the regiments guarding the Chteau de Compigne. Reading from left to right, we see the cityscape with its single hill. [66] The right side of the panel shows the succession of the new Queen, dressed in solemn clothing suited to a widow. The Queen Marie is depicted in a humble way, yet the illustration implies her power over the military. Although Maries uncle Cardinal Ferdinand was at the head of her marriage committee, he gave the young woman an unprecedented amount of choosing power, refusing to force her hand into a marriage agreement. [103] Marie, desiring vindication for the death of her close personal friend, Concino Concini, would likely have intended a more direct personal allusion to Constable de Luynes, but Rubens preferring to keep to allegory, avoided specifics that could later prove embarrassing. Well, that tacky-as-heck move set the gossips whispering that Francesco had purposely offed his first wife, though nothing ever came of the rumors. The many headed hydra struck a fatal blow by Divine Justice as witnessed by Divine Providence, a theme based on a classical seventeenth century metaphor for insurrection. Marie, in turn, showed great sympathy and support to her husband's banished ex-wife Marguerite de Valois, prompting Henry IV to allow her back to Paris. [75] The painting subjects are placed in a celestial setting which doesn't give way to a particular place, time or event. Although Marie was beautiful, Henry wanted her onlyand I mean onlyfor her money. 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. Direct link to writersurprise's post How many assistance did h, Posted 7 years ago. The way France is also dressed shows how female she is on top revealing her breasts and the way the fabric is draped adding notions of classicism. The Queen accepts an orb, a symbol of government, from the personification of France while the people kneel before her and this scene is a great example of the exaggeration of facts in the cycle. [83], This particular painting in the Marie de' Medici Cycle is noteworthy for its uniqueness in execution. The ambiguity of the figures was essentially used to depict Marie in a positive light. Marie de' Medici wasted the wealth amassed by Henry IV; she never purged herself of the charge of having known of the king's assassination; her intimate was d'pernon, who did not ward off Ravaillac's blow, and who was proved to have known the murderer personally for a long time. It was designed by Tommaso Francini, a Florentine fountain maker and hydraulic engineer. But hey, beauty is only skin deepas it turned out, the real issue was that he was a monster inside. The day after Marie officially became Queen of France, her husband suffered a horrific fate. Marie was of a very jealous temperament, and she refused to accept her husband's numerous infidelities; indeed, he forced his wife to rub shoulders with his mistresses. These spats were disruptive, but there were other things going on in the broken home. Although she had five older sisters, only two of them survived infancy along with her younger brother, Philip. Marie ultimately decided to withdraw from court. [58] This particular image appears to carry significant weight in Rubens's iconographic program for the cycle, as it appears in six (one quarter) of the twenty-four paintings of the cycle. [13] Although the King could have easily banished his mistress, supporting his wife, he never did so. Marie didnt forget about her Italian cadre of friends when she was at the top, and she promoted Leonora Dori and her husband Concino Concini to high ranks, most flagrantly creating Concini as a Marshal of France despite the little fact that hed never fought in a single, solitary battle. In late February 1619, Marie had enough of sitting pretty in some faraway palace. [106] With the removal of the scales she carried in an earlier sketch that would have connected her to Louis XII, we are left with an entity who with no help from Louis, slays the adversary as he appears oblivious and unconcerned. Both figures ignore the King. Moreover, they are considered to be far from "likenesses" of either sitter. A young woman in a bejeweled dress with a stiff lace collar gazes confidently out of a simply-framed, bust-length portrait placed at the very center of a large canvas. [99] It can also be debated that the painting is not really about peace or security, but really an unrelenting spirit that does not give into loss. Born at the Palazzo Pitti of Florence, Italy on 26 April 1575,[2] Maria was the sixth daughter of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Archduchess Joanna of Austria. Not only had Henry just received an annulment after a disastrous marriage to Margaret of Valois, he was known throughout the continent as one of the most rampant philanderers of his time, with scores of mistresses and illegitimate children. Early Europe and Colonial Americas: 200-1750 C.E. Did Marie almost immediately mess this chance up? The upper half of the painting shows Marie and Henry as the mythological Roman gods Juno and Jupiter. These have been identified as Cupid, Minerva, Prudence, Abundance, Saturn, and two figures of Pheme, all indicated by their traditional attributes, all bestowing their bounties on the Queen. [19] The Concinis had Henry IV's able minister, the Duke of Sully, dismissed, and Italian representatives of the Roman Catholic Church hoped to force the suppression of Protestantism in France by means of their influence. But the queen didnt pay her bills on time and Rubens had a lot of trouble collecting his due. In the works, Marie got the painter to depict her as the Roman goddess Juno. Maries appreciation of the visual arts ran deep, and she also dabbled in the medium herself. To further consolidate her authority as Regent of the Kingdom of France, Marie decided to impose the strict protocol from the court of Spain. 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. You will fare better without it. Marie, meanwhile, basked in the glow of success and looked forward to an official coronation now that she had done her duty. It was during his time in Italy that he began to make copies of classical sculpture, such as the Laocon Group, and collect drawings done by other artists. [116] The two portraits are stylistically very different, and even out of place, from the rest of the paintings in the gallery. A formal chronological structure is followed in Panegyric writings detailing the ancestry, birth, education and life of the individual. [11] Rather, implications of political scandal in her life made any literal depiction of the events far too controversial for Rubens to execute without incurring the disapproval from others in government. King smitten with the portrait of his bride-to-be (detail), Peter Paul Rubens, The Presentation of the Portrait of Marie de Medici, c. 1622-1625, oil on canvas, 394 x 295 cm (Muse du Louvre). From the time of her marriage to Henri IV, the Queen practiced ambitious artistic patronage, and placed under her protection several painters, sculptors and scholars. In a patriarchal society, that would not be wise of the young monarch to give up her political power. [37], Education of the Princess (16221625) shows a maturing Marie de' Medici at study. WebMarie de Medici b. Writing decades later, the author Honore de Balzac accused her of having known of the kings assassination. Personally, I think the French just dont understand the term poetic justice. As for Maries reaction. My dear, never give up a crown to anybody. Rule number one in queen school is to respect your crown. She hatched an ingenious and dangerous plan. 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. The noble coalition was quickly defeated at the Battle of Ponts-de-C (7 August 1620) by Louis XIII, who forgave his mother and the princes. To add insult to injury, the whole time Henry had been playing White Knight with Marie and sending her love letters, he had been sending almost the exact same letters to Henriette, saying he wanted to kiss her a million times. It only got more tense from there. People in the know also claimed that he was deeply in debt to the House of Medici in particular, and marrying into the family would turn his ledger into a blank slate. Maria's uncle Ferdinando I de' Medici became the new Grand Duke of Tuscany and married Christina of Lorraine (granddaughter of the famous Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France) in 1589. With Amor the Cupid as his escort, Hymenaios, the god of marriage, displays the princess Marie on canvas to her future king and husband. As soon as news reached the palace that the king had perished, parliament wasted no time confirming Marie as Regent over her young son Louis. - Popular aphorism. From there, the second half of Rubens' cycle begins addressing the more controversial issues from Marie's reign. Marie de' Medici was banished from Paris in 1631 as Cardinal Richelieu gained power over Louis XIII. The Queen of France might have liked art, but she loved herself. I cant seem to find a high quality digital image for my AP Art History class any help? Although Louis had come of age in 1614, Marie stubbornly refused to cede an ounce of power to her bouncing baby boy, remaining the de facto ruler of France long past her expiration date. More than once, the artistic license of the painter was curbed in order to portray Marie in the right light. This matter is addressed very clearly in the video that precedes this essay (Harris and Zucker talking in front of the painting). [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. Saturn has his sickle and is personified as Time here guiding France forward. WebMarie de' Medici became the second wife to King Henry IV of France in a marriage by proxy on 5 October 1600 by the power invested in her uncle, Grand Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany. Rubens represented a putto taking the crown of Henry III, with the intention of placing it on the willing future Henry IV, although the actual transfer of power didn't occur until Henry III's assassination several months later (1 August 1589). [78] Fame in the right side of the painting pushes air through the trumpet so powerfully that a burst of smoke comes out. [17] At first, she kept the closest advisers of Henry IV in the key court positions and took for herself (1611) the title of Governess of the Bastille, although she entrusted the physical custody of this important Parisian fortress to Joachim de Chateauvieux, her knight of honor, who took direct command as a lieutenant of the Queen-Regent. [24], Originally the viewer would have entered the gallery from the southeast corner. Direct link to writersurprise's post There is alot of informat, Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. We all have sins to confess.. Was this a common practice? [29], As a narrative source for the Marie de' Medici cycle Rubens used an ancient genera of writing in which ideal kingship, and good government were explored. Her favorite move was to use painters to decorate her lavish palaces, including when she hired the Flemish painter Ambroise Dubois to do up her apartments at the Palace of Fontainebleau. Rubens thus turned to mythological allusions, emblematic references, personifications of vices and virtues and religious analogies to veil an often unheroic or ambiguous reality. Lets just, The Truth Always Comes Out: Dark Family Secrets Exposed, Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress, Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIIIs First Wife, Cool Facts About Charlie Parker, The Tortured Genius, Brilliant Facts About Anita Loos, Hollywoods Hidden Star, Daring Facts About Gina Lollobrigida, Golden Hollywoods Last Survivor, Wanted Facts About Yellowstone, TVs Killer Western Drama. 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