Marie de’ Medici and her son the future Louis XIII

This finely worked relief depicting Marie de’ Medici and her son, the future Louis XIII, was produced to mark Louis’s accession and the regency of his mother following the assassination of Henri IV in 1610. The composition is closely related to an engraving by Isaac Briot, published that same year, which was itself derived from a painting by François Quesnel. Of exceptional sophistication in its detailing, the relief demonstrates highly accomplished workmanship. The technique of iron decorated with damascening was originally associated with the production of arms and armour in 16th-century Milan, before spreading to workshops in Paris.

The elaborate frame, incorporating allegorical figures, cherubs and the arms of France and Navarre, appears to have been conceived specifically for the relief and reinforces its courtly and political context. While the relief and frame were likely produced in separate specialist workshops, their close correspondence suggests they were intended as a unified conception. Owing to the rarity of comparable works, a firm attribution remains difficult; however, it has been suggested that the component parts may have been produced in the royal workshops of Guillaume Dupré or Barthélemy Prieur (Warren, loc. cit.).