Exchange of the princesses between Spain and France on 9 november 1615 at Hendaye

On 9 November 1615 two princesses changed countries in the middle of a river. On the Bidassoa, the border at Hendaye, Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip III of Spain, was handed over to marry Louis XIII, while his sister Elisabeth went the other way to marry the future Philip IV. This double marriage was the cornerstone of Marie de' Medici's policy as regent, peace with Spain sealed through her own children. Unusually for the cycle, the queen herself is nowhere in the picture. Two helmeted women, Spain and France, hold the girls between them, France in a robe sown with gold lilies. Overhead, Public Happiness pours down a shower of gold, and below, river gods and a naiad mark the water. Anne, the princess in white, would become the mother of Louis XIV.