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Blois & Catherine de Médicis Event 500 years of Renaissance

Alongside five successive kings, she witnessed and played an active role in France’s history.

Located in the heart of the Loire Valley, the cradle of Renaissance art and architecture in France, the Château Royal de Blois is one of the most striking symbols of this intellectual and artistic movement.
Imbued with the memory of Italian queen Catherine de Médicis, born just 500 years ago, the château saw all her children grow up. Catherine de Medici, who died in Blois in 1589, was the embodiment of the Valois dynasty, a great patron of artists and organizer of sumptuous receptions, and one of the most emblematic figures of the Renaissance.

Few queens have left their mark on French history like Catherine de Médicis, whose presence at court and in government was of exceptional longevity, beginning in 1533 under the “beau XVIe siècle” and ending in Blois in 1589, at the heart of the 8th religious war.

Chosen by François I to marry his son Henri, she became dauphine, queen, regent and queen mother. Alongside five successive kings of France, she was both a witness to and a major player in her era in France and Europe. Her exceptional destiny continues to fuel the judgments of historians, as well as the famous “black legend” and the imagination of novels and films.

Zoom in on a character as mysterious as he is fascinating!

Mother of three kings and two queens, regent and privileged advisor to her sons, Catherine de Médicis pursued a policy of tolerance for over forty years, a policy distinguished by its modernity. Throughout her life, the queen was a controversial figure, whose writings and judgments were marked by religious crisis, misogyny and xenophobia.

A patron, builder and protector of the arts and letters, she contributed to the cultural influence of her era by inviting Renaissance artists to Blois, organizing major festivities and creating spacious residences.

Catherine de Médicis’ library and bindings, her manuscripts, correspondence, commissions, toiletries, residences, advisors and alliances have all been studied to fully understand her influence on the kingdom.

1565: The last mystery: Catherine de Médicis' funeral effigy
  • Catherine de Médicis commissioned the artists Girolamo della Robbia and Germain Pilon to create her funeral effigy and that of her husband, King Henri II.
    500 years later, the mystery remains, whether the Italian sculptor's work remained unfinished because of the queen's fear of his macabre representation, because of the quality of the material, or whether della Robbia's death a few months later simply interrupted the work.

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