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91 These were not the only examples of foundation stones with four medallic faces surrounding
the dedicatory inscription. One example is from August 1628 for the reconstruction of the
church at the Jesuit College at Clermont. One of the medals featured the portrait of the king with
the arms of the city of Clermont on the reverse. The other medal is not known. For this
example, see Blanchet and Dieudonné, Manuel, 3:120. Another example was made for Notre-
Dame-des-Victoires, begun 1629, which will be addressed in the following chapter.
One explanation for the rarity of these images is the print medium. It is possible that many more
examples of this type of print existed than have been preserved. For a discussion of some of the
challenges presented by this medium, see Henri Zerner, "Introduction," in The French
Renaissance in Prints: from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, ed. Karen Jacobson (Los
Angeles: Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, University of California Los Angeles, 1994),
25.
92 The propagandistic nature of seventeenth-century French prints is a common thread in the
literature. Several works that discuss this aspect of the medium include: Cynthia Burlingham,
"Portraiture as Propaganda: Printmaking during the Reign of Henri IV," in The French
Renaissance in Prints: from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, ed. Karen Jacobson (Los
Angeles: Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, University of California Los Angeles, 1994),
139-51; Grivel, Commerce, 99.
93 Traditional scholarship portrays the French government from 1624 to 1630 as a triumvirate
ruled by Louis XIII, Richelieu, and Maria de’ Medici; see Carmona, Marie de Médicis, 421-31;
Chevallier, Louis XIII. A different interpretation is offered by A. Lloyd Moote, who suggests
that the roles were far from equal. He argues that Maria de’ Medici was dissatisfied with her lack
of influence for several years before she made Louis XIII choose between her and Richelieu; see
Moote, Louis XIII, 168, 201-05.
94 For Louis XIII’s treatment of La Rochelle, see Moote, Louis XIII, 194-98.
95 For the views held by Maria de’ Medici and the dévots on the siege at La Rochelle, see
Dubost, "Reine," 122; Moote, Louis XIII, 194.
96 For Maria’s dissatisfaction with being regent, see Moote, Louis XIII, 168, 205.
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