Medals as art and propaganda

The medal is an invention of the Renaissance. Despite an obvious affinity to coins in terms of both material and shape, medals are not legal tender. The obverse of most medals featured a portrait of the patron who commissioned it, while the reverse was used for a motto, emblem or coat-of-arms.

Medals immortalized the likeness of the subject in metal. Their high artistic aspirations made them a popular gift and object of discussion among artists, humanists and patrons.

Pisanello (1395–1455), a prolific artist who was raised in Verona, is regarded as the inventor of this new art form. North of the Alps, the fashion for medals that had originated in Italy enjoyed the support and patronage of such luminaries as Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466/69–1536). Hence no Kunstkammer could be without them.