Marie De' Medici - Early Life

Early Life

Born in Florence, Italy at the Palazzo Pitti on 26 April 1575, Marie was the sixth daughter of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Joanna, Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. Marie was one of seven children, but only she and her sister Eleanora survived to adulthood.

A portrait of Marie as a young girl shows her to have been pretty with regular features and a high forehead. Her wavy hair was light brown in colour, and she had grey eyes and fair skin. The painter was from the school of Santi di Tito.

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