King Henri II may not have his statue on the Pont Neuf or even inside Place des Vosges but he did leave a large lasting imprint on one famous Paris monument, the Musée du Louvre.
Henri II was never to be king, his older brother Francis was going to take the throne from his father Francis I, but would die after playing tennis at the age of 18 in 1536. Henri who would be in line to rule France with his bride and his mistress by his side.
Henri II at the age of 14 married Florentine, Catherine de Medici in 1533, and an effort to align the two powers. It would only be a year later that Henri II would take up with his longtime mistress and great love Diane de Poitiers, he was 15, and she was 35.
He would have 10 children with Catherine, 3 of which would be King of France and 2 daughters that would be Queen on France and Spain.
His heart was always with Diane and there are reminders of it all over the Louvre still today. The ceiling of the escalier Henri II in the Sully wing was designed by Pierre Lescot and is decorated with the image of Diane the Huntress, a nod to his lover. The ceiling was created to imitate nature, complete with vines, animals, Diane and the crescent moon the symbol of Henri. The crescent moon is also the symbol of Diane the Huntress and Poitiers also took it as hers as well.
They can also be seen in the Salle Henri II in the Sully wing on the ceiling with painting of Les Oiseaux by Georges Braque. On the façade where you will find the letter H with entwined C’s or D’s inside is something researchers and historians can not agree on. Many think it was D’s for Diane and some C’s for Catherine. My money is on Diane.
He was pretty bold to remember her everywhere, so why not there. It was on this day in 1559 that Henri would die after a jousting accident while dressed in the colors of Diane. At the Hôtel des Tournells, where Place des Vosges is today, a splinter from his opponents lance landed in his eye and he would die of sepsis. His lover was sent away, and Catherine would rewrite their great love wherever she could.
The two lie together at Saint Denis, in not just one tomb, but two.
