Page 33 - The Lugdunum Auction 21

A masterpiece of French medallic art attributed
to Guillaume Dupré

This gold medal was made somewhere between 1610
and 1614 for Maria de Medici, the mother of the
French King Louis XIII when she was Queen Regent
of France. It is attributed to the famous sculptor and
medallist Guillaume Dupré.

In 1611, under the Regency of Maria de Medici, Du-
pré became Premier sculpteur du Roi reaching so, the
highest position available as the official sculptor and
medallist of the royal family.

The importance of his legacy for numismatics and
the medallic art is illustrated, in addition to his im-
pressive work, by the fact that the most magnificent
reception room of the building of the Monnaie de
Paris, the historical siege of the French Mint, was na-
med after him.

Produced in the newly built Galerie du Maria de Medici, Queen Regent (1610-1614)
Louvre, in Paris

What’s really interesting, is the fact that Dupré was among the first artists to be placed upon Royal support
in the Galerie du Louvre built by Henry IV in Paris. It was there, in very close proximity to the royal family,
that his workshop and furnace where located and there that this medal must have been produced.

What makes this medal unique and so attractive,
is the very high relief of the portrait of the Queen
Regent on the obverse and the great details in the
representation of her rich adorned closes and her
elaborated hairdressing.

Looking closely at it, we can see that the artist
chiselled the smallest details of the costume and
lacework in order to give an impression of rich-
ness and emphasise the fineness of the medal.

Workshop of a goldsmith of the Renaissance
Such a high-quality medal could only be achieved by a master in the art of casting like Guillaume Dupré
was, especially if we consider that gold is a very difficult metal to cast. It can therefore be seen as an extre-
mely rare testimony of the exceptional skills of French artists of the early 17th century.

Finally, as a cast medal, it is also, among other medals of Dupré, one of the last testimonies of the Renais-
sance medallic art, born in Italy more than a century earlier, an art that made the joy of so many import-
ant and magnificent monarchs of the time.

Unpublished in gold

To the best of our knowledge, it is the only specimen known to exist in gold and it is missing in all import-
ant museum collections worldwide.