Marie de Medici (1575-1642) c.1610-20
Oil on canvas | 61.7 x 49.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402973
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Marie de’ Medici 1575-1642, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, married Henry IV of France in 1600 and bore him many children, including Louis XIII (1601-43) and Henrietta Maria (1609-69), Charles I’s Queen. After Henry IV assassination in 1610 she ruled as regent to the young Louis XIII, until he asserted his own authority in 1617 driving her into exile. Though soon reconciled Marie de’ Medici lead a failed coup in 1630 against her son and his favourite, Cardinal Richelieu. This time her exile was more lasting, causing her to visit Brussels in 1631, Amsterdam and London (a guest of her daughter) in 1638. She died in Cologne.
This head and shoulder portraits shows the Queen wearing a black dress with an open neckline and an angular collar about it, the front of a peak cap visible on her head; with large drop pearl earrings and a necklace.Provenance
Certainly the portrait listed in the Presence Chamber at Kensington Palace in 1818 (no 43), its size given as 2ft 0in x 1ft 7½in (61 x 49.5cm); probably the portrait of the sitter listed in the Store at Kensington Palace in 1710, 1720 and 1732; possibly that listed in the Whitehall Store in 1688 (no 207) and at Colombes in 1669 (no 60).
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Creator(s)
Previously attributed to (artist) -
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
61.7 x 49.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
80.0 x 68.4 x 5.5 cm (frame, external)