# Henri II, King of France, between France and Fame [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [DUVET, Jean]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Engraving, 298 x 215 mm ## Commentary Henri II, King of France, between France and Fame c. 1548 Engraving, 298 x 215 mm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Duvet dedicated twenty-three violent visions of the Apocalypse to Henry II, whose coronation in 1547 and love for Diane de Poitiers inspired the work reproduced here, apparently executed on the occasion of Henry's rededication of the order of Saint Michael, saint of the church militant, in 1548. Here Duvet depicts Henry in the guise of Saint Michael, perhaps symbolizing Henry's role as leader of Catholic France. He stands victorious with his wings outspread, sword in hand, and demon beneath his feet. The pommel of his sword is in the form of a fleur-de-lis, emblem of the French kings, and the figure at the left holds an escutcheon with three fleurs-de-lis. The crescent above Henry's head - the attribute of the goddess Diana - is a symbol of Diane de Poitiers. Duvet himself was gripped by the struggle between Catholics and Protestants. He joined a fanatic Catholic fraternity in France and then defected to the enemy in Geneva, where he designed coins, stained glass, and fortifications for the Calvinists. ## Related artworks - [Illustration to the Apocalypse]() - [Moses and the Patriarchs]() - [St John the Evangelist sitting at a desk]() - [The Marriage of Adam and Eve, from The Apocalypse]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()