Two medals of MARIE DE MEDICIS - Lot 848

Lot n° 848
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Estimation :
120 - 150 EUR
Two medals of MARIE DE MEDICIS - Lot 848
Two medals of MARIE DE MEDICIS Uniface medal in pewter, dated 1624 (100 mm). Mirror legend. Obverse of the medal whose reverse depicts the queen, princes and princesses in a ship. Mazerolle 696; cf TNG V,6. Engraver : Guillaume Dupré. Hanging hole. Later cast. Retouched flan. Of high relief. Very nice. Uniform bronze medal, undated (1615). Obverse of the medal with a bust in widow's costume, whose reverse represents a ship with the banner of France (58 mm). TNG V,4. Engraver : Guillaume Dupré. Beautiful patina and chasing. Two holes at 12 o'clock. Deformed blank. T.B. Two medals. Marie de Médicis (1575-1642), daughter of Francesco I, grand duke of Tuscany and of his wife Johanna, archduchess of Austria. In 1600, she married Henry IV of France and Navarre. Her life was eventful and difficult: she had problems with Henry's mistresses and, after his assassination in 1610, when she became queen regent for the young Louis XIII, she was under the influence of Italian advisers. She established a pro-Spanish and pro-Habsburg policy that was reversed by her son when he took the throne in 1617. He then exiled his mother and appointed Richelieu chief minister. She led an unsuccessful revolt in 1619 but was reconciled with Louis and became part of the royal council in 1621. She attempted another coup in 1630 and was again exiled but escaped abroad in 1631, remaining outside France until her death in Cologne in 1642. This medal by Guillaume Dupré shows her as a mature woman of great presence. The curious way in which the legend is given upside down was done so that it could be read in a mirror, to symbolize the fact that her glory was reflected in that of her son!
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