Medici Villa La Petraia, courtyard: “Catherine De’ Medici and her Children”, fresco from the cycle of the Fasti Medicei by Volterrano (Baldassarre Franceschini), 1636-1647.Catherine de' Medici, on a throne with the back draped with French lilies, is close to seven of her ten children (those who died at a very young age are missing): Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III, all kings of France, Francis Hercules , Duke of Alençon, and his daughters Elizabeth, Queen of Spain, Claudia, Duchess of Lorraine, and Margaret, wife of Henry of Navarre. The boys are arranged in a crown and each of them has the precise attributes of his royal or noble status (sceptres, crowns, jewels and cloaks).
