Mary Stuart, the fate of a Scottish queen
- from: 15.10.2008
- to: 02.02.2009
- In: Ecouen
Mary Stuart, the fate of a Scottish queen
agenda
15th October 2008 to 2nd February 2009
Practical
Renaissance Museum, EcouenA romantic heroine with a tragic fate, imprisoned and executed on the orders of her cousin Elizabeth 1st for her claims to the English throne, Mary Stuart (1542-1587) also owes her popularity to her image, created in France, as a woman of culture, beauty and taste. She was born to James V of Scotland and Mary de Guise, a French princess. Both were fervent admirers of the new artistic techniques of the Renaissance, which they helped introduce to Scotland.
Promised in marriage to the Dauphin Francois, she arrived in France at the age of five and was brought up with the royal children. Under the supervision of Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Medici, she became immersed in the splendour and sophistication of the Valois court. Almost immediately after her marriage, the accidental death of Henri II the following year hastened her fate. Francois II and Mary Stuart became sovereigns of France and Scotland in 1559 for a brief reign of 16 months which ended with the premature death of Francois II.
Accounts of her activities and education reveal a complex personality, inspired by the political struggles of which she was the subject. In fact, history reveals her to have been a pawn in the ambitions of her mother's family, the Guise.
The exhibition takes place in several rooms in the Chateau and is divided into six sections: the Renaissance in Scotland, Mary Stuart's childhood in France, Mary Stuart's marriage to the Dauphin Francois on 24th April 1558, Mary Stuart, Queen of France, the death of Francois II and her departure for Scotland in 1561 and ends by revisiting the 19th century myth of Mary Queen of Scots.
Around one hundred works place Mary Stuart in the political and artistic environment into which she was born, grew up and reigned. Francois Couet, an important painter from the time is exceptionally well represented with about ten paintings and drawings.
These works show the Valois court, portraits of the royal children Francois II and Elisabeth de France, a portrait of Catherine de Medici from the Pitti Palace, portraits of Mary Stuart, including one which is a miniature from the royal collections in England, exhibited in France for the first time along with drawings showing her at different ages. The Bain de Diane [Bath of Diana], a masterpiece from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen, is a poetic and mythological image reflecting her court.
Also on display are portraits of the queen wearing the white mourning clothes that she chose to wear after the death of her father in law, Henri II, and then after the successive deaths of her mother and her husband, unlike Catherine de Medici who chose to wear black and white.
Objets d'art, including painted enamels by Léonard Limosin, jewellery and personal items, complete our view of this character, extolled by the Renaissance poets Ronsard, du Bellay, the chronicler Brantôme, and his contemporaries.
The Condé Museum at the Chateau de Chantilly is presenting a complementary exhibition to that at Ecouen. A large collection of court portraits is being exhibited featuring portraits of the children of Catherine de Medici and Henri II and those of Mary Stuart, drawn by Francois Clouet and his school. Since these works cannot leave the musum due to the terms in the will of the Duke of Aumale, it was important to work with this museum for this exhibition and recall the historical link between the two institutions, two museums and two chateaux with a shared history going back to the times of the Montmorency.
- Updated: 01.12.2008
