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Auction: 390 - Renaissance Plaquettes and Commemorative Medals featuring the Neil A. Goodman Collection - e-Auction
Lot: 173

FRENCH, ca. 1596-1599
Gabrielle d'Estrées (1573-1599), Mistress of Henri IV, Duchesse de Beaufort et Verneuil, Marquise de Montceaux. Medallion. Gold Repoussé, after a wood-cut engraving by Thomas de Leu, 1596. 41 x 43mm. 8.05g. LA MARQVISE DE MONCEAVX, Half-figure slightly right wearing large ruff, ornate embroidered dress with padded arms and Order.
Mistress, confidante and advisor to Henri IV, Gabrielle persuaded the king to renounce Protestantism in favor of Catholicism in 1593 then later urged French Catholics to accept the Edict of Nantes which granted certain rights to Protestants. Deeply in love with Gabrielle, Henri IV petitioned Pope Clement VIII for an annulment to end his childless first marriage as he intended to marry Gabrielle and have her crowned the next Queen of France, while legitimizing their three children born out of wedlock. In March, Henri gave her a coronation ring. Tragically the marriage and coronation would never happen. On the 9th of April, Gabrielle suffered an attack of eclampsia while giving birth to a still-born son. She died the next day. A grief-stricken Henri wore black in mourning, something no previous French monarch had ever done, and gave her a funeral befitting a queen. Amidst a solemn procession of princes, princesses and nobles, Gabrielle d'Estrées' coffin was transported to Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois for a requiem mass. She was interred in the Notre-Dame-La-Royale at the Maubuisson Abbey in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône.
In 1596, Henri IV conferred the title Marquise de Montceaux on his mistress, Gabrielle d'Estrées, and she purchased the Château de Montceaux at auction from the estate of Catherine de' Medici for 39,000 écus, money which he probably gave her. After Gabrielle's death in 1599, he acquired it from their young son, César, Duc de Vendôme, and in 1601 gave it to his new wife, Marie de' Medici, in gratitude for the birth of the dauphin, the future Louis XIII. The château ceased to be used as a royal residence after 1640 and had fallen into ruin by the time it was demolished by revolutionary decree in 1798. Some ruins remain, a chapel and the buildings of the forecourt, transformed into private dwellings; parts of the east wing are farm buildings. cf. BM R6.101.
An apparently unique and unpublished medallion likely removed from a Royal mount or jewel setting, thus with light crinkling and pressing at edges. Extremely Fine. Of the Highest Rarity and Artistic appeal. Ex Jean Emmanuel Prunier Sale: "Le Temps des Collections - Moyen Age & Renaissance", (Louviers), September 24, 2017, lot 116.
From the Neil A. Goodman Collection

Estimate
$6,000 to $10,000

Starting price
$4000