History Art / MarieDeMediciCycle

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a collection of 24 oil-on-canvas {{paintings}} by Creator/PeterPaulRubens, made from 1622 to 1624. They were commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi King Henry IV of France]] and former Queen Regent for her eldest son, UsefulNotes/LouisXIII, with whom she had a contentious relationship.

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a collection of 24 oil-on-canvas {{paintings}} by Creator/PeterPaulRubens, made from 1622 to 1624. They were commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi Henry IV of France]] and former Queen Regent for her eldest son, UsefulNotes/LouisXIII, with whom she had a contentious relationship.

* PrincessProtagonist: During the first four {paintings, Marie is a French princess; then, in the fifth, she marries and becomes Queen of France. The complete series narrates her life very epically, with the constant intervention of gods.

* TheEpic: The collection is a {{Sequential Art}}work containing no less than 21 paintings (a veritable commission) telling the life of Marie de' Medici as she grows up to become the Queen of France. Every important milestone is embellished to evoke a feeling of grandiosity --her birth and upbringing are both blessed and aided by god; when she falls in love with her future husband, is love at first sight; her military victories are pompous accomplishments, her temporary falling out with her son is soul-crushing; her escape from confinement is a high-stakes journey; etc. While her struggles are glossed over in order to paint her as favorably as possible, the way it's presented highlights that France's fate depends on her (prosperous) reign.

# ''The Negotiations at Angoulême'': Depicts the Treaty of Angoulême as Marie taking an olive branch from the the god Mercury.

The Marie de' Medici cycle occupies a gallery of its own in the Louvre.

[[caption-width-right:350:”The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de' Medici”]]

# “The Destiny of Marie de' Medici”: Jupiter and Juno oversee the three Fates handle the thread of Marie's life. Notably, the thread is not shown being cut.
# “The Birth of the Princess”: Marie is born.
# “Education of the Princess”: Marie is educated by the gods Mercury, Apollo, and Minerva, and given beauty by the Three Graces.
# “The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV”: {{Love god}}s present Marie's portrait to her future husband Henry IV, who is instantly smitten.
# “The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de' Medici to King Henry IV”: Marie marries Henry IV by proxy, with her uncle standing in for her husband.
# “The Disembarkation at Marseilles”: Marie arrives in France.
# “The Meeting of Marie de' Medici and Henry IV at Lyons”: Marie-as-Juno meets Henry-as-Jupiter.
# “The Birth of the Dauphin at Fontainebleau”: Marie gives birth to Louis XIII.
# “The Consignment of the Regency”: Marie is entrusted with the French regency.
# “The Coronation in Saint-Denis”: Marie is crowned Queen Regent.
# “The Death of Henry IV and the Proclamation of the Regency”: Henry IV dies and is welcomed up to Olympus; Marie is entrusted with the regency on a more permanent basis.
# “The Council of the Gods”: Marie oversees her kingdom.
# “The Regent Militant: The Victory at Jülich”: The aftermath of a triumphant military victory.
# “The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border”: Marie's son Louis is married to Anna of Austria, and her daughter Elisabeth to Philip IV of Spain.
# “The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de' Medici”: Marie holds court over the gods, symbolizing a prosperous reign.
# “Louis XIII Comes of Age”: Marie hands over leadership of France to her son Louis, symbolized by them standing at the front of a boat and Marie passing the rudder to him.
# “The Flight from Blois”: Depicts Marie's escape from her confinement.
# “The Negotiations at Angoulême”: Depicts the Treaty of Angoulême as Marie taking an olive branch from the the god Mercury.
# “The Queen Opts for Security”: After Marie's attempt at waging war on Louis fails, she signs a truce at Angers.
# “Reconciliation of the Queen and her Son”: Marie and Louis make up, symbolized by a [[OurHydrasAreDifferent hydra]] getting struck down.
# “The Triumph of Truth”: Marie and Louis make peace in heaven.

* ArrangedMarriage: “The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border” depicts the marriages of Anna of Austria to Marie's son Louis, and Louis's sister Elisabeth to the Spanish king, political marriages arranged for alliances.

* LoveBeforeFirstSight: In “The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV”, Henry IV is smitten by a portrait of Marie. Their proxy wedding follows soon after.

* NationsAsPeople: The womanly personification of France is more or less a supporting character; she approves of Henry's marriage to Marie and gives Marie the tools of government after Henry dies. A personification of Spain joins in “The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border”, approving of the marriage of the French princess to the Spanish king.
* OurHydrasAreDifferent: A many-headed hydra shows up to get slain in “Reconciliation of the Queen and her Son”, struck down by Divine Providence and symbolizing the end of Marie and Louis's conflict.

* {{Putto}}: Two chubby baby-like angels are seen in the low left of “The Birth of the Princess”. They're playing with a shield with the Medici crest on it.

* WhiteStallion: To make Marie look extra heroic in “The Regent Militant: The Victory at Jülich”, she is riding an all-white horse.

* NationsAsPeople: The womanly personification of France is more or less a supporting character; she approves of Henry's marriage to Marie and gives Marie the tools of government after Henry dies. A personification of Spain joins in in ““The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border”, approving of the marriage of the French princess to the Spanish king.

* ProtagonistTitle: The “Cycle” is a series of paintings devoted to narrating the life of Marie de Medici, Regent Queen of France, as if were an [[TheEpic epic]].

[[caption-width-right:350:''The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de' Medici'']]

# ''The Destiny of Marie de' Medici'': Jupiter and Juno oversee the three Fates handle the thread of Marie's life. Notably, the thread is not shown being cut.
# ''The Birth of the Princess'': Marie is born.
# ''Education of the Princess'': Marie is educated by the gods Mercury, Apollo, and Minerva, and given beauty by the Three Graces.
# ''The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV'': {{Love god}}s present Marie's portrait to her future husband Henry IV, who is instantly smitten.
# ''The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de' Medici to King Henry IV'': Marie marries Henry IV by proxy, with her uncle standing in for her husband.
# ''The Disembarkation at Marseilles'': Marie arrives in France.
# ''The Meeting of Marie de' Medici and Henry IV at Lyons'': Marie-as-Juno meets Henry-as-Jupiter.
# ''The Birth of the Dauphin at Fontainebleau'': Marie gives birth to Louis XIII.
# ''The Consignment of the Regency'': Marie is entrusted with the French regency.
# ''The Coronation in Saint-Denis'': Marie is crowned Queen Regent.
# ''The Death of Henry IV and the Proclamation of the Regency'': Henry IV dies and is welcomed up to Olympus; Marie is entrusted with the regency on a more permanent basis.
# ''The Council of the Gods'': Marie oversees her kingdom.
# ''The Regent Militant: The Victory at Jülich'': The aftermath of a triumphant military victory.
# ''The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border'': Marie's son Louis is married to Anna of Austria, and her daughter Elisabeth to Philip IV of Spain.
# ''The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de' Medici'': Marie holds court over the gods, symbolizing a prosperous reign.
# ''Louis XIII Comes of Age'': Marie hands over leadership of France to her son Louis, symbolized by them standing at the front of a boat and Marie passing the rudder to him.
# ''The Flight from Blois'': Depicts Marie's escape from her confinement.
# ''The Negotiations at Angoulême'': Depicts the Treaty of Angoulême as Marie taking an olive branch from the the god Mercury.
# ''The Queen Opts for Security'': After Marie's attempt at waging war on Louis fails, she signs a truce at Angers.
# ''Reconciliation of the Queen and her Son'': Marie and Louis make up, symbolized by a [[OurHydrasAreDifferent hydra]] getting struck down.
# ''The Triumph of Truth'': Marie and Louis make peace in heaven.

* ArrangedMarriage: ''The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border'' depicts the marriages of Anna of Austria to Marie's son Louis, and Louis's sister Elisabeth to the Spanish king, political marriages arranged for alliances.

* LoveBeforeFirstSight: In ''The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV'', Henry IV is smitten by a portrait of Marie. Their proxy wedding follows soon after.

* NationsAsPeople: The womanly personification of France is more or less a supporting character; she approves of Henry's marriage to Marie and gives Marie the tools of government after Henry dies. A personification of Spain joins in in ''''The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border'', approving of the marriage of the French princess to the Spanish king.
* OurHydrasAreDifferent: A many-headed hydra shows up to get slain in ''Reconciliation of the Queen and her Son'', struck down by Divine Providence and symbolizing the end of Marie and Louis's conflict.
* ProtagonistTitle: The ''Cycle'' is a series of paintings devoted to narrating the life of Marie de Medici, Regent Queen of France, as if were an [[TheEpic epic]].
* {{Putto}}: Two chubby baby-like angels are seen in the low left of ''The Birth of the Princess''. They're playing with a shield with the Medici crest on it.
* WhiteStallion: To make Marie look extra heroic in ''The Regent Militant: The Victory at Jülich'', she is riding an all-white horse.

* AntagonisticOffspring: Rubens politely chronicled Louis's coup d'etat against his mother and the cycle's "protagonist" Marie, Marie's escape and subsequent rallying against him, the treaties that ended this conflict, and Marie and Louis's eventual reconciliation.

* WhiteStallion: To make Marie look extra heroic in ''The Regent Militant: The Victory at Jülich'', she is riding an all-white horse.

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a collection of 24 oil-on-canvas paintings by Creator/PeterPaulRubens, made from 1622 to 1624. They were commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi Henry IV of France]] and former Queen Regent for her eldest son, UsefulNotes/LouisXIII, with whom she had a contentious relationship.

The Marie de'Medici cycle occupies a gallery of its own in the Louvre.

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a collection of 24 oil-on-canvas paintings by Creator/PeterPaulRubens, made from 1622 to 1624. They were commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi Henry IV of France]] and former Queen Regent for her eldest son, UsefulNotes/LouisXIII, with whom she had a contentious relationship. The cycle occupies a gallery of its own in the Louvre.

!!!Tropers/{{Synchronicity}} is working on this

* GodCouple: Zeus and Hera (contrary to [[AwfulWeddedLife]] their usual depiction in the Greek myths) consistently put on a harmonious display of approval of Marie's wedded life from Olympus, and Henry and Marie are consistently equated to Jupiter and Juno as a display of a ruling couple with a prosperous marriage.
* LoveBeforeFirstSight: In ''The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV'', Henry IV is smitten by a portrait of Marie. Their proxy wedding follows soon after.

# ''The Flight from Blois''
# ''The Negotiations at Angoulême''
# ''The Queen Opts for Security''
# ''Reconciliation of the Queen and her Son''

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a collection of 24 oil-on-canvas paintings by Creator/PeterPaulRubens, made from 1622 to 1624. They were commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi Henry IV of France]] and former Queen Regent for her eldest son, UsefulNotes/LouisXIII. The cycle occupies a gallery of its own in the Louvre.

Twenty-one of the paintings portray stylized events of notable events in Marie's life; Rubens surrounded her with figures from Myth/ClassicalMythology to represent the highlights and gloss over the more unfavorable portions of the Queen's history. In order, the 21 narrative paintings are:

# ''The Felicity of the Regency of Marie de' Medici''
# ''Louis XIII Comes of Age''

# ''The Triumph of Truth''

# ''The Exchange of the Princesses at the Spanish Border''

* NationsAsPeople: The womanly personification of France is more or less a supporting character; she approves of Henry's marriage to Marie and gives Marie the tools of government after Henry dies.
* {{Putto}}: Two chubby baby-like angels are seen in the low left of ''The Birth of the Princess''. They're playing with a shield with the Medici crest on it.

# ''Education of the Princess'': Marie is educated by the gods Hermes, Apollo, and Athena, and given beauty by the Three Graces.

# ''The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de' Medici to King Henry IV'':
# ''The Disembarkation at Marseilles''
# ''The Meeting of Marie de' Medici and Henry IV at Lyons''
# ''The Birth of the Dauphin at Fontainebleau
# ''The Consignment of the Regency''
# ''The Coronation in Saint-Denis''
# ''The Death of Henry IV and the Proclamation of the Regency''
# ''The Council of the Gods''
# ''The Regent Militant: The Victory at Jülich''

!!Tropes:

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a collection of 24 oil-on-canvas paintings by Creator/PeterPaulRubens, made from 1622 to 1624. They were commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of [[UsefulNotes/LetatCestMoi Henry IV of France]] and former Queen Regent for her eldest son, UsefulNotes/LouisXIII. Twenty-one of the paintings portray stylized events of notable events in Marie's life; Rubens surrounded her with figures from Myth/ClassicalMythology to represent the highlights and gloss over the more unfavorable portions of the Queen's history.

In order, the 21 narrative paintings are:
# ''The Destiny of Marie de' Medici''
# ''The Birth of the Princess''
# ''Education of the Princess''
# ''The Presentation of Her Portrait to Henry IV''
# ''The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de' Medici to King Henry IV''