Description
Gilt bronze medal by Guillaume Dupré (Sissone, circa 1576 - Paris, 1643), Paris, first quarter of the 17th century. Bélière. A/ Marie de Médicis in bust in right profile. Henri IV's wife is in court dress, wearing a very large piped collar embellished with lace, her hair up, curled around the temples and held in place by a diadem; she wears a pearl in her ear, a pearl necklace and a cross on her chest. Inverted inscription MARIA AVG[VSTA] GALLIAE ET NAVARRAE REGINA (Marie, auguste reine de France et de Navarre) and signature G. DUPRE F[ecit]. R / The queen as Cybele is surrounded by her children represented as the principal gods of Olympus: the Dauphin Louis as Jupiter, the Duke of Orléans as Mars, the three princesses as Juno, Diana and Thetis. Inscription LAETA DEVM PARTV (Happy for the birth of these gods). Antique cast iron D. 51.7 mm - Total H. 6.1 cm (slight wear) The inversion of the inscription raises questions. According to Mark Jones, it could be to signify that his titles, readable only through a mirror, are merely a reflection of his son's glory. The validity of this explanation is questionable, given the importance of Marie de Médicis and the iconography of other medals bearing her effigy. A similar medal dated 1624 is listed in Achille Collas' Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique, Paris, 1835, vol. 2, plate V, no. 6. Works consulted: - M. Jones, A Catalogue of French Medals in the British Museum. Volume 2. AD 1600-1672, British Museum Press, London, 1988, p. 99.
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Gilt bronze medal by Guillaume Dupré (Sissone, circa 1576 - Paris, 1643), Paris, first quarter of the 17th century. Bélière. A/ Marie de Médicis in bust in right profile. Henri IV's wife is in court dress, wearing a very large piped collar embellished with lace, her hair up, curled around the temples and held in place by a diadem; she wears a pearl in her ear, a pearl necklace and a cross on her chest. Inverted inscription MARIA AVG[VSTA] GALLIAE ET NAVARRAE REGINA (Marie, auguste reine de France et de Navarre) and signature G. DUPRE F[ecit]. R / The queen as Cybele is surrounded by her children represented as the principal gods of Olympus: the Dauphin Louis as Jupiter, the Duke of Orléans as Mars, the three princesses as Juno, Diana and Thetis. Inscription LAETA DEVM PARTV (Happy for the birth of these gods). Antique cast iron D. 51.7 mm - Total H. 6.1 cm (slight wear) The inversion of the inscription raises questions. According to Mark Jones, it could be to signify that his titles, readable only through a mirror, are merely a reflection of his son's glory. The validity of this explanation is questionable, given the importance of Marie de Médicis and the iconography of other medals bearing her effigy. A similar medal dated 1624 is listed in Achille Collas' Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique, Paris, 1835, vol. 2, plate V, no. 6. Works consulted: - M. Jones, A Catalogue of French Medals in the British Museum. Volume 2. AD 1600-1672, British Museum Press, London, 1988, p. 99.
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