MEDICIS (Marie de). - Lot 159

MEDICIS (Marie de). Born in Florence (Italy). 1573-1642. Queen of France by marriage to Henri IV. She held the Regency on behalf of her son Louis XIII from 1610 to 1614. L.S. "Marie", countersigned by Antoine de Lomënie (1560-1638), to M. de Livry [Sanguin de Livry, Provost of Paris]. Fontainebleau, October 16, 1611. 3/4 p. folio, inscription on verso: "Monsieur de Livry, conseiller du Roy mon fils en sa Cour de parlement et Prévost des marchands de Sa bonne ville de Paris" (cut at foot; small restoration). Size: 310 x 220 mm. STERN ADMONITION FROM THE QUEEN-REGENT, WHO HAS RULED FRANCE SINCE THE DEATH OF HENRY IV THE PREVIOUS YEAR. She denounces to the provost the undertakings of private individuals who have built between the towers of the Louvre, along the Seine: ...Having been advised that you have given permission to some private individuals to build along the walls of the Louvre enclosure between the towers on the river side, I am writing to tell you that this permission can only be to the detriment and intherest of the King, my son, and therefore that you will do him the pleasant service of revoking your permission, preventing such undertakings from taking place as much as you can, and where there is any order to build, that it be promptly desmolated. It will also be your pleasure to inform me of everything that has happened, and the order you will give to restore everything to its original state. Ce quatendant de vos soing accoutumé au bien des affaires du roy monsieur mon filz...The tragic death of King Henri IV, on May 14, 1610, left unfinished the work begun at the Louvre along the Seine: between 1595 and 1610, the King had commissioned the construction of the Galerie du bord de l'eau, a very long passage linking the King's apartments in the Louvre directly to the Tuileries, ending in the Pavillon de Flore. The project was entrusted to two architects, Louis Métezeau and Androuet du Cerceau. By 1611, the shell of the gallery had been completed and the roofs installed, but the interior had not yet been decorated. Louis XIII was still too young to take an interest in the Louvre, and it was not until later that he carried out the work that Louis XIV completed.