Louis XII Leaving Alessandria to Quell the Revolt of Genoa

This illumination, the fifth miniature in the manuscript Le Voyage de Gênes composed by the court poet Jean Marot, depicts Louis XII riding out of the fortress of Alessandria at the head of his army to suppress the revolt of Genoa, between January and May 1507. The king wears a tunic embroidered with bees and a beehive, accompanied by the motto "NON UTITUR ACULEO REX CUI PAREMUR" ("the king whom we obey does not use his sting"), a reference to the ancient belief, drawn from Pliny and Seneca, that a colony of bees was ruled by a benevolent queen who never used her sting. This symbol was meant to signal to the rebellious Genoese that a return to obedience would spare them any punishment. Two knights preceding the king bear the porcupine, Louis XII's personal emblem. Produced by the court illuminator Jean Bourdichon for a copy intended for Queen Anne of Brittany, the manuscript illustrates royal propaganda deployed in the service of a military campaign presented as an act of clemency rather than vengeance.