The obverse (front) of this medal depicts Anne of Austria, wearing a widow’s veil and holding her child Louis XIV. It was made by Jean Warin, the most successful French medallist of his day. On the reverse is the façade of the Church of Val-de-Grâce in Paris.
Anne of Austria (1602-1666) was the wife of Louis XIII, who she married in 1615 at the age of 14. She did not give birth to a child for 20 years, until at last in 1638 she had a son, later to become Louis XIV. She had vowed that if she ever managed to produce an heir, she would build a church and convent for the order of Benedictine nuns in gratitude. Following the birth of her son, she fulfilled her vow. This medal was made to commemorate his laying of the foundation stone of the church of Val-de-Grâce, on April 1, 1645. It provides the only evidence of the church as originally planned by the French architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, who was replaced by Lemercier in October 1646.
Lemaire (in ‘Paris Ancien et Nouveau’, Paris, 1685, vol II, pp.314-6) recorded the laying of the foundation stone. He wrote, …'Estant arrivé au lieu destiné à la Ceremonie, on luy donna une Truelle, d'argent . . . et fit de fort bonne grace, tout ce que la Reine Regent luy dit, pour mettre la première pierre’, touchingly describing the very young king being given a silver trowel, and with very good grace doing exactly as his mother told him in positioning the foundation stone.
Warin (1606-1672) was a French sculptor and painter as well as a medallist. He was born in Liège where his father worked for the mint of its ruler, the Prince Bishop. In 1626 Warin travelled to Paris where his uncle, Guillaume, worked as a wax modeller and his cousin, also called Jean, was a goldsmith. On 12 February 1629 Warin was put in charge of the Monnaie du Moulin, one of the two Mints in Paris, where technology developed in Germany was being used to mechanise the production of coins (rather than having them hammer-struck as was traditional practice). Warin revolutionised the production of coins with a mastery of the machinery available. He went on to have a very successful career, particularly as a medallist.
Warin was highly influential in the history of the medal. His medals show a clarity of composition based on studies of the Antique, as well as great finesse in their execution. He revolutionised not only the production of medals, but also their function in propagating image and iconography in the service of the state. This is most clearly seen in his most famous production: a series of medals commemorating the triumphs of Louis XIV’s reign; an entire medallic history conceived by the King’s Controller-General of Finances, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, in 1662.