Portrait of Marie de' Medici

In 1622, when Rubens signed the contract for this series, Marie de' Medici had only recently made peace with her own son. After Louis XIII seized power in 1617 she was sent away to Blois, and in 1619 and 1620 her supporters took up arms against the king. Back in favour and building the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, she had Rubens paint her life in 24 canvases for its gallery. This portrait hung at the entrance of that gallery, high above a fireplace, and the story of the cycle started from it and returned to it. She stands in a plumed helmet among cannon and armour, holding the royal sceptre and a small statue of Victory, while cupids with butterfly wings, a sign of immortality, crown her with laurel. For a long time she was described as Bellona, the goddess of war. The Louvre now reads the figure as a triumphant queen bringing peace. Rubens's first idea, a seated figure painted in grey monochrome, survives as an oil sketch in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.