Allegory of Charles IX as Mars

This small enamel plaque is part of a set that presents allegorical portraits of Charles IX and his mother, Catherine de' Medici. On this plaque, Charles appears in the guise of Mars, wielding a shield and sword and drawn in a chariot by wolves, animals sacred to the god of war. Behind him at the lower right, a war-ravaged land unfolds, while tiny figures on the bottom right depict its effects. The iconography probably celebrates Catherine de Medici's role in promoting the Peace of Saint Germain, which temporarily ended the Religious Wars in France. Small-scale versions of oil paintings, these plaques were designed to hang with other enamels in an intimate room.