Baroque presentation of self in metal

The invention of the spindle press in the 16th century made it possible to create large medals in high relief in substantial quantities and good quality.

The Italians were the first to recognize the technology’s political potential: the popes regularly issued large and elaborate medals to highlight their political successes and good deeds. The French king Louis XIV (1643–1715) also reverted to this method of self-promotion and had his exploits recorded in a «histoire métallique», a history in metal, by his court medallists.

The so-called «Gnadenpfennig», or bijou, literally «penny of grace», is based on the medal: rulers awarded such medals as gifts of honour, often enamelled and studded with jewels, out of which, later, the orders of merit emerged.