
Thomas Seaman
Specialist, Head of Sale
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£8,000 - £12,000
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The subject of this portrait is believed to be King Henry II of France (1519-1559), depicted mounted and holding a lance in an allusion to the famous circumstances of his death. Following a reign characterised by vigorous suppression of Protestants within his kingdom and war with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, King Henry's reign ended due to injuries sustained jousting. A series of tournaments were arranged to commemorate the marriages of Henry's daughter Elizabeth and his sister Margaret to Philip II of Spain and to Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy, respectively. During a match with the captain of his Scottish Guard, Gabriel de Montgomery, the King was struck in the head by Montgomery's lance, a splinter from which pierced his eye. Despite the efforts of royal surgeons Ambroise Paré and Andreas Vesalius, sepsis took hold and Henry died from his wound following an agonising ten days. The death of the King and the instability of the succession lead to the decline of the Valois dynasty and the onset of the Wars of Religion which would soon engulf the country.