Fotoreproductie van een gravure van Het tonen van het portret van Maria de'Medici aan koning Hendrik IV door Jean-Marc Nattier, naar het schilderij door Peter Paul Rubens before 1864

This engraving at the Rijksmuseum captures a pivotal dynastic moment. Dechamps et Cie.’s photomechanical reproduction renders a scene of arranged marriage as high spectacle. The formal arrangement directs our gaze upwards. At the top, Jupiter and Juno sit together, and, below, angels display a portrait of Maria de' Medici to King Henry IV of France. The king regards her image, while figures depicting France and Hymen, the god of marriage, urge him on. The composition invites semiotic interpretation. The upward movement toward the divine realm suggests the sacred nature of kingship and marriage, while the figures of France and Hymen serve as allegorical endorsements of this union. Yet, the very act of reproducing the image shifts its meaning. Dechamps et Cie’s engraving underscores how such images function in a larger cultural discourse, where power is not just divinely ordained but also mediated through representation. This encoding is how the formal structure carries its cultural meaning.