- Museum number
- M.631
- Description
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Cast silver medal. (whole)
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Bust of Maximilien de Sully, duc de Sully, right, wearing armour, a ruff and a cloak. (obverse)
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An eagle flying over a landscape holding a thunderbolt in its right claw. (reverse)
- Production date
- 1607
- Dimensions
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Thickness: 1.20 - 3.50 millimetres
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Diameter: 42.000 millimetres
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Weight: 20.64 grammes
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Jones 2
On grounds of style (confirmed by the presence of diamond shaped stops in the legend) this medal can be attributed to Dupré. The example in the British Museum has been cast from an example that had already been pierced above Sully's head and, although fine, is unlikely, therefore, to be from Dupré's workshop.
The reverse composition and legend are taken from a jeton, issued by Sully as Grand Master of the Artillery at the end of 1601. The device was, according to Henry Estienne, invented for Sully by his uncle Robert Estienne (see 3). If this is the case he had taken the legend from an earlier jeton produced by Sully's predecessor François d'Espinay in 1597 (see 8). Estienne reports that the device 'receut pour lors un applaudissement si general, qu'on la jugea digne d'estre immortalisée dans l'or & la bronze; & en effet, elle fut imprimée sur tous les canons qui se fondirent en ce temps là dans l'Arcenal'.
According to L'Estoile, however, the jeton inspired the following sonnet commenting on the 'tyranny' of its issuer 'qui incontinent courut partout' (see 2):
Cet aigle courroucé, qui tient et qui manie
Ces foudres enflammés, l'univers menaçant,
Et ces mots en dessous par lesquels il consent
A trop d'obéissance et par trop d'infamie,
C'est l'image, Rosny, de votre tyrannie,
Qui blesse sans respect le faible et le puissant,
Et montre que vous êtes un oiseau ravissant,
Seul instrument du mal dont la France est punie.
Mais le tableau me semble inutilement peint,
Car le cruel subjet en est assez empreint
Dans l'âme des Français, si fièrement meurtrie:
Tout ce mystère y est entièrement pourtrait,
Et bien plus vivement que vos graveurs n'ont fait,
Car votre cruauté passe leur industrie.
Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully (1559-1641) was born at Rosny, served in all Henri IV's campaigns and ran the finances of France from 1597 until Henri's death in 1610. He became Grand Master of the Artillery in 1599 and duc de Sully and a Peer in February 1606.
Other examples:
(a) Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque Nationale, 58 rue de Richelieu, 75084 Paris, France (BN, Paris), Sér. Icon. Fr. 292, cast silver, 42 mm.
(b) BN, Paris, Sér. Icon. Fr. 293, cast gilt bronze, 44.5 mm (43 mm without rim), pierced.
(c) Albert I Royal Library, Brussels, pewter, 42 mm. Aftercast.
(d) Dept. of Coins and Medals, Fitzwilliam Museum, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, bronze.
(e) Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7, A355-1910 (Salting Bequest), gilt bronze, 43 mm.
Bibliography:
1. J. de Bie Les familles de la France 1634 p. 123 no. 98. Reverse only. Differs in detail, lacks landscape and dated 1609.
2. L'Estoile Journal December 1601.
3. Henry Estienne L'art de faire les devises, Paris 1645, pp.88, 124,125.
4. Menestrier La devise du Roy p.77.
5. T.N. Méd. Fr. II pl. 15 no. 3.
6. Tallement des Réaux Historiettes 12 (I, p.85).
7. Mazerolle II no. 657.
8. Feuardent Jetons et Méreaux no. 960.
9. F. de Mallevoüe 'Les devises de Sully' Bulletin de la société de l'historié de Paris et de l'Ile-de-France 1913 pp. 172-182.
10. Bernard Barbiche Sully Paris 1978.
- Location
- Not on display
- Department
- Coins and Medals
- Registration number
- M.631
- C&M catalogue number
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MF2 (Jones 2) (70) (25)
