Catherine de Médicis

Germain Pilon, French, 1535 - 1590

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after 1574

Bronze with partial gilding

Overall: 6 7/8 × 6 11/16 × 1/4 in. (17.4 × 17 × 0.7 cm)

Weight: 458 g (1 lb.)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Roger Arvid Anderson Collection - 250th Anniversary Gift, 1769-2019

2016.64.14

Geography

Place Made: France, Europe

Period

1400-1600

Object Name

Sculpture: Medal

Research Area

Sculpture

On view

Inscriptions

Inscribed along rim: KATHARI.REGIN.HENRII.VXOR.FRANCI.CAROL.ET HENR.REGVM MATER

Label

Since the creation of the portrait medal in the early 15th century, women have been important patrons of the genre. Anne de Bretagne’s medal was among the earliest French examples, made to commemorate her post-wedding journey to Lyon and the unification of Brittany and France in 1500. Taking the same format as men’s medals, women’s portraits presented their power while also accounting for the gendered hierarchies of the period. Elaborate clothes and jewelry signal women’s status, as seen in the depictions of Maria Leonora of Cleves and Margaret of Parma. Playing with imagery, women could also present their power in relationship to men. Diane de Poitiers is semi-nude, suggesting her special role at court as the mistress of King Henri II. His wife, Catherine de Médicis, meanwhile, appears as a widow, a position of virtue and dignity in 16th-century France. Also represented as a widow, the famously powerful Marie de Médicis is surrounded by lettering in reverse, a falsely modest suggestion that her strength was but a reflection of her son, King Louis XIII.

From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

FREN 22, Medieval and Renaissance French Literature, Andrea Tarnowski, Spring 2022

Exhibition History

Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 18, 2001-April 7, 2002.

Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 3, 1999-September 22, 2000.

Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.

Renaissance Bronzes From The Collection of Roger Arvid Anderson, Class of 1968, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 13-August 29, 1993.

The Power of Appearances: Renaissance and Reformation Portrait Prints and Medals, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 7-December 3, 2000.

Publication History

Roger Arvid Anderson, The Roger Arvid Anderson Collection, Medals, Medallions, Plaquettes and Small Reliefs, Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper and Textiles, San Francisco: Roger Arvid Anderson (published privately), design by David L. Wilson, 2015, p. 87.

Provenance

Acquired by Roger Arvid Anderson, San Francisco, California, date unknown; lent to present collection, 1990; given to present collection, 2016.

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