QUEEN CATHERINE DE' MEDICI - (1519 - 1589)
This is my vision complete with:
~Custom Immortelle Dupioni Silk Gown
~Handmade Tudor Hood with Veil and Antique Netting
~Hand Beaded Partlet with vintage jeweled stations
~Handmade Custom Bodice Chain
~Custom Immortelle Necklace
This entire look was hand created for this shoot and will be on display at the Ohio Renaissance Festival 2024.
Catherine de' Medici was the Italian born, Queen Consort to King Henry II of France, and is known as one of the most powerful women of the 16th century.
Queen Catherine was known to be absolutely ruthless in her measures to keep her family's House, the House of Valois, on the throne at all costs. She was nicknamed the Black Queen because of her fascination with mysticism, fortune-telling, and astrology. Her tenacity for the occult, and motivation for her political scheming, were for the survival of her sons, as France was in a constant state of civil and religious war. It was not about staying Queen herself.
Across her years at French court, she aided King Henry II, through his failing mental and physical health and until his passing. She was also the mother to the next three Kings of France (Frances II, Charles IX, and Henry III), as well as Mother-in-Law to Mary, Queen of Scots.
Of her three sons that ascended the throne, two of them had not reached adulthood when they became King. One of them was only 10 years old! A testament to her strength and influence, Catherine often had to preside over counsel, decide policy, and control patronage and state affairs.
Outside of her political and religious influence, she was quite a connoisseur of the arts. She promoted trends that had not yet been seen in France. She brought perfumes and fashion to France, as well as tobacco, decorative folding fans, handkerchiefs, and hair decor and dyes. It is also rumored that she invented the idea of 'high heels', when she asked her designer to add 4 inches of height to her shoes so she didn't look so short next to Henry at their wedding! A woman ahead of the time!
Queen Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589)
“The first lesson I ever learned was never to wait for a man’s rescue.”
Gowns and Jewelry: Immortelle Bijouterie
Photographer: Laura Dark Photography
Model: Dawn MacLean
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