When considering the patronage of Maria de Medici following her return from exile in 1621, one must take into account the forty-eight monumental paintings she commissioned from Peter Paul Rubens. The contract between artist and patron specified two sets of twenty-four canvases: one dedicated to the life of Maria and the other to the life of King Henry IV. Maria intended the paintings to illustrate her continuation of the King's policies and the legitimacy of her own rule---themes that echoed her vast propaganda campaign. One reason for numerous scholarly interpretations of the Medici series is the incomplete nature of the Henry cycle. This thesis supports the idea espoused by one, and possibly two scholars (and then only in a selected fashion), that Maria and Henry's lives must be understood as unified and complementary in order to interpret the original commission correctly. Through the investigation of all extant material relating to the king's gallery, and how it contributes to the viewer's understanding of the Queen's gallery, as well as Maria's objectives, this idea comes into focus.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.30216 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Schecter, Danial. |
| Contributors | Glen, T. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Art History.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001763831, proquestno: MQ64192, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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