Page 34 - The Lugdunum Auction 21

An illustration of her insatiable political ambitions

On this medal we can admire Maria de Medici at
the highest point of her political life, ruling the
French kingdom as Queen Regent for her son
Louis, still too young to rule. A leading position
she had ambitioned to occupy for a long time.

While she had to wait 10 years after her marria-
ge to Henry IV to be crowned Queen of France
in 1610, she only needed to wait one more day
to become Queen Regent, as the King tragically
died, assassinated on the very day following her
coronation.

A sequence of event that led to numerous ru-
mours about her possible implication in the
death of her husband and resulted in a lack of
legitimacy of her regency. Therefore, in order
to assert her fragile position, she decided to use
wealth as the basis of her legitimacy and policy
and expressed it in every aspects of her image.
And this is why her portrait on this medal is so
opulent, as were also her painted portraits, espe-
cially the ones made by the painter Frans Pour-
The Regent Militant, Maria de Medici cycle by Peter P. Rubens
bus the Younger.

But this insatiable ambition will soon become the source of numerous conflicts with her son. At the end
of the Regency in 1614, she refused to hand the crown over to him, now in age to reign. It will only be in
1617 that Louis XIII will be able to take his crown back but by using force and after having had her mother
banished from the court.
Her insatiable ambition will even
lead Maria de Medici to raise
an army against her own son to
overthrown him and replace him
by his younger brother Gaston.
Finally, it will be her insatiable
ambition that will lead her to be
banished a second time in 1630
after a reconciliation with her
son, but this time for good as it
will be the last time she would see
her son ever again until her death
12 years later in 1642. The Proclamation of the Regency, Maria de Medici cycle by Peter P. Rubens

If you want to learn more about this exceptional medal, do not hesitate to watch
our special presentation video on our website www.lugdunum-numismatik.com
(Highlights page) or by using this QR-Code