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PHIDIAS

496 - MARIE DE MÉDICIS wife of Henri IV Single-sided pewter medal …
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Estimate €80 - €100
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Description
MARIE DE MÉDICIS wife of Henri IV Single-sided pewter medal dated 1624 (197.32 g; 100 mm). Mirror legend. The reverse of the medal depicts the queen, princes and princesses in a ship. ♦ Mazerolle 696; cf TNG V,6 Engraver: Guillaume Dupré. Hanging hole. Later cast. Flan retouched. High relief. T.B. Undated bronze uniface medal (1615). Obverse with the bust in widow's costume of the medal whose reverse depicts a ship with the banner of France (43.64 g; Ø 58 mm). ♦ TNG V,4 Engraver: Guillaume Dupré. Beautiful patina and chasing. Two holes at 12 o'clock. deformed blank. T.B. Two medals (one in pewter and one in bronze). T.B. Marie de Medici was born in 1575. She was the daughter of Francesco, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his wife Johanna, Archduchess of Austria. In 1600, she married Henri IV of France and Navarre. Her life was eventful and difficult: she had problems with her royal husband's mistresses and, after his assassination in 1610 when she became queen regent for the young Louis XIII, she came under the influence of Italian advisers. She established a pro-Spanish and pro-Habsburg policy that was reversed by her son as soon as 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 a member of the royal council in 1621. She attempted another coup d'état in 1630 and was again exiled, but fled 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 symbolise the fact that her glory was reflected in that of her son!
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About the sale NUMISMATICS (2nd day)
Auction location
Auction time 06/05/2026 at 2:00 PM
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PHIDIAS
See original version (French)
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