Henri IV and Maria de Medici [top half]
1551 to 1600
![Henri IV and Maria de Medici [top half] by Simon de Passe](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/henri-iv-and-maria-de-medici-top-half-nga-11795.webp)
Medium
engraving pulled from silver medal engraved by the artist
Dimensions
plate: 6.2 × 5.4 cm (2 7/16 × 2 1/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.9288.a
Art Historical Context
Behold this delicate engraving, *Henri IV and Maria de Medicitop half]*, crafted by Dutch artist Simon de Passe between 1551 and 1600. Measuring just 6.2 ×5.4 cm, this intimate print was pulled directly from a silver medal engraved by the artist himself—a clever technique blending sculpture and printmaking. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosen Collection (Department CG-E), it captures the regal profiles of France's King Henri IV and queen consort, Maria de Medici, in a format ideal for dissemination among Europe's elite. In the late Renaissance era, such medals and their engravings s...
About the Artist
Simon de Passe · 1590–1647
Simon de Passe (c. 1595–1647), born in Cologne to the renowned Dutch engraver and publisher Crispijn van de Passe the Elder and his wife Magdalene, grew up in a family dynasty of printmakers who had fled Antwerp due to religious persecution as Anabaptists. The second son among five siblings—four of whom became engravers, including brothers Crispijn II and Willem, and sister Magdalena—he trained un...