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Nicolas De Harlay, Seigneur De Sancy
Nicolas de Harlay, seigneur de Sancy (1546–1629) was a French soldier, diplomat, and gem collector. Life Although de Harlay belonged to the Protestant branch of the family of Harlay, he adopted the Catholic religion in 1572 during the massacres of the Huguenots. In the second half of the 16th century, de Harley served as the French ambassador at the court of Sultan Selim II in Constantinople, where he acquired a number of diamonds that had been mined near Golconda, now in the Indian state of Telangana. Among these jewels were some of the largest diamonds ever seen in Europe, such as the Sancy and its smaller sibling the Beau Sancy. In 1589 he obtained in Geneva and Berne sums sufficient to raise an army of mercenaries for Henry III, partly by the sale of a number of his jewels. Henry IV of France made him superintendent of his finances in 1594, but in 1599 he was replaced by Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully. Meanwhile he had been a second time converted to Catholici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie De' Medici
Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom of France officially between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son, Louis XIII of France. Her mandate as regent legally expired in 1614, when her son reached the age of majority, but she refused to resign and continued as regent until she was removed by a coup in 1617. A member of the powerful House of Medici in the branch of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the wealth of her family caused Marie to be chosen by Henry IV to become his second wife after his divorce from his previous wife, Margaret of Valois. The assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, caused her to act as regent for her son, Louis XIII, until 1614, when he officially attained his legal majority, but as the head of the '' Conseil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond Cutting
Diamond cutting is the practice of shaping a diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. Cutting diamonds requires specialized knowledge, tools, equipment, and techniques because of its extreme difficulty. The first guild of diamond cutters and polishers (Diamantaire) was formed in 1375 in Nuremberg, Germany, and led to the development of various types of "cut". This has two meanings in relation to diamonds. The first is the shape: square, oval, and so on. The second relates to the specific quality of cut within the shape, and the quality and price will vary greatly based on the cut quality. Since diamonds are one of the hardest materials, special diamond-coated surfaces are used to grind the diamond down. The first major development in diamond cutting came with the "Point Cut" during the later half of the 14th century: the Point Cut follows the natural shape of an octahedral rough diamond crystal, eliminating some waste in the cutting process. Diamond cutting, as well as overa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, and science. For its leading role in the arts and sciences, as well as its very early system of street lighting, in the 19th century it became known as "the City of Light". Like London, prior to the Second World War, it was also sometimes called the capital of the world. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France region, or Paris Region, with an estimated population of 12,262,544 in 2019, or about 19% of the population of France, making the region France's primate city. The Paris Region had a GDP of €739 billion ($743 billion) in 2019, which is the highest in Europe. According to the Economist Intelli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement (district or ward). At any given point in time, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are being exhibited over an area of 72,735 square meters (782,910 square feet). Attendance in 2021 was 2.8 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic, up five percent from 2020, but far below pre-COVID attendance. Nonetheless, the Louvre still topped the list of most-visited art museums in the world in 2021."The Art Newspaper", 30 March 2021. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galerie D'Apollon
The Galerie d'Apollon is a large and iconic room of the Louvre Palace, on the first (upper) floor of a wing known as the Petite Galerie. Its current setup was first designed in the 1660s. It has been part of the Louvre Museum since the 1790s, was completed under the lead of Félix Duban in the mid-19th century, and has housed the museum's collection of the French Crown Jewels since 1887. History The Petite Galerie of the Louvre was first built in the 16th century. A second storey with a long room for the display of art was added during the reign of Henry IV. Known as the , it was decorated by artists of the Second School of Fontainebleau, including Toussaint Dubreuil, Jacob Bunel and his wife Marguerite Bahuche, according to designs by Martin Fréminet. After a fire in the small gallery destroyed much of it on 6 February 1661, Louis XIV ordered this part of the Louvre to be rebuilt. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower Of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower (Tower of London), White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new Normans, Norman ruling class. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were severa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great H Of Scotland
The Great 'H' of Scotland was a jewel belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots comprising a large diamond, a ruby, and a gold chain. It was broken up in 1604 and made into the Mirror of Great Britain for James VI and I. Mary Queen of Scots The "H" was a pendant known as the 'H' because of its form, and was also called the 'Great Harry'. It appears listed in an inventory of jewels belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots made in France in the 1550s, as a French crown jewel, and two of its stones were mentioned, a large facetted lozenge diamond which formed the bar of the 'H' and hanging below this a large cabochon ruby. It may have been the pendant of "incalculable value" which she wore at her wedding in 1558. Later Scottish inventories also mention the great diamond and pendant ruby, and a small gold chain and other diamonds. Mary was allowed to keep this jewel after the death of her husband Francis II of France and brought it to Scotland. In 1578 it was described as:The jowell callit the gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirror Of Great Britain
The Mirror of Great Britain was a piece of jewellery that was part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom during the reign of King James VI and I. It was pawned in 1625 and is considered lost. Description The jewel was described in a 1606 inventory as follows: The National Galleries of Scotland collection includes a 1604 portrait by John de Critz of James wearing the ''Mirror of Great Britain'' as a hat jewel. He wore and was painted wearing other jewels in a similar fashion, such as the ''Three Brothers'', and a "feather" of gold set with diamonds. History When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603 after a 45-year reign, she was the last direct descendant of King Henry VIII, and the 'virgin queen' had been unmarried and childless. King James VI of Scotland seemed to have the best claim on the throne through his great-grandmother Margaret Tudor, and from as early as 1601, English politicians had maintained a secret correspondence with James to prepare for the succession. When ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Écu
The term ''écu'' () may refer to one of several French coins. The first ''écu'' was a gold coin (the ''écu d'or'') minted during the reign of Louis IX of France, in 1266. The value of the ''écu'' varied considerably over time, and silver coins (known as ''écu d'argent'') were also introduced. ''Écu'' (from Latin ''scutum'') means shield, and the coin was so called because its design included the coat of arms of France. The word is related to Catalan '' escut'', Italian '' scudo'' or Portuguese Castilian ''escudo''. In English, the ''écu'' was often referred to as the crown. History Origin When Louis IX took the throne, France still used small silver deniers (abbreviated ''d''.), which had circulated since the time of Charlemagne to the exclusion of larger silver or gold coins. Over the years, French kings had granted numerous nobles and bishops the right to strike coins and their “feudal” coinages competed with the royal coinage. Venice and Florence had already ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James VI And I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. In 1603, he succeeded Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, who died childless. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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