The present set of four medallions is an important example of French medallic protraiture of the 16th century. They appear to represent the Duke and Duchess de Guise, the Duke of Ferrara and Queen Catherine de' Medici, who were all related by birth, marriage or political alliance.
The identities of two of the sitters are suggested by ink inscriptions. When comparing the medallion identified as François de Lorraine, second Duke de Guise (1519-1563, illustrated here top right) with a firmly identified medal in the British Museum, London (Jones, op. cit, no. 227) it becomes clear that the author of the 19th century inscription was correct in his assessment of the sitter. It is therefore also plausible that the inscription on the other medallion identifying his wife, Anne d'Este, Duchesse de Guise and daughter of the Duke of Ferrara (1531-1607), is also likely to be correct. Being part of the same commission, one would expect that the two unnamed medallions would be connected to the two named personages by means of a historical link. By comparing an engraving of Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) by Thomas de Leu (Paris exhibition catalogue, loc. cit.) to the other female portrait in this group, one can also establish the identity of the one-time queen of France. While the fourth portrait is not identifiable with certainty, Dr. Charles Avery suggests that it might depict Ercole d'Este II (1508-1559), the Duke of Ferrara and father of Anne d'Este. When considering the grouping of these characters, one is presented here with an extremely interesting series of historical connections.
Arguably the most interesting historical link lies with Catherine de Medici and the Duke de Guise. The latter famously distinguished himself in battles against the English, Spanish and Italians, and these successes resulted in him becoming one of the most powerful men in France. With these victories behind him and with the implicit endorsement of Francois II (1544-1560) - Catherine de Medici's first son - he ruthlessly persecuted the Protestants 'in defence' of the Catholic faith. This persecution resulted in the 1560 Conspiracy of Amboise, which he successfully repressed. However, with the untimely death of Francois II in the same year and therefore the loss of his benefactor, the duke was forced to form an alliance with the more temperate Catholic, Catherine de Medici, who appointed herself as regent in place of her second son, Charles IX. This alliance and an additional reconciliation with past adversaries created a powerful force called the Triumvirate, which had the ultimate aim of protecting the Catholic faith.
Based on style and construction, the medallions apparently derive from the mid-16th century and almost certainly from France where, at the time, Germain Pilon (1525-1590) was by far the most celebrated sculptor. His medallic works are very similar in style, but distinguishable from the present lot by being smaller, more naturalistically rendered and almost always depicting the sitters in three-quarter views. Dr. Avery comments that the author(s) of the present lot was interested in wiry, more linear, patterns as is most evident on the image of the Duc de Guise. Furthermore, unlike Pilon's naturalistic hairstyles, this author has rendered the hair of all four figures in more schematic and stylised fashion. He therefore proposes that two possible candidates, who were known to have worked for the house of Lorraine, may be Domenico del Barbieri (called Dominique Florentin (1506-1565)) and Jean Picard (called Le Roux (fl 1536-1550 d. ca. 1594)). Florentin and Picard are best known for having sculpted the tomb of Claude, first duke de Guise, the remains of which can be found in the Louvre, Paris (Gaborit, op. cit, p. 375-6). Both are also known to have worked with Pilon on the magnificent tomb of Henry II, also in the Louvre (ibid, p. 374). Florentin was a dynamic, yet schematic relief sculptor, while Picard was a designer and bronze worker who was notably commissioned to cast and chase bronze casts of antiquities that Francois I brought back from Rome between 1540-1550. Although a tentative attribution, it is possible, therefore, that with the direct influence of Pilon's medallic style, Picard's casting and chasing abilities and Florentin's stylised forms, that these historicising portraits may derive from the workshops of the two Fontainebleau collaborators.