Diane de Poitiers

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

History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024

History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024

Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024

Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024

Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

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.

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. 207.

Provenance

Sotheby's London, December 8-9, 1988 Sale, lot 607; sold to Roger Arvid Anderson, San Francisco, California, 1988; lent to present collection, 1993; given to present collection, 2016.

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