Historical medals

En el Archivo Histórico Nacional, en la sección de Papeles de Estado, encontramos un Expediente sobre la Amistad de varias naciones de Indios de Luisiana, entre los años 1778 y 1788. En el mismo se contiene la documentación relativa al acopio de efectos para regalos a los indios Uchizes-Creeks bajos-y Falapuches, así como la fabricación en la Casa de Moneda de México de medallas de plata según las muestras enviadas por el Gobernador, cuyo diseño fue encargado a Tomás Francisco Prieto.

La guerre du pain, médailles et propagande de guerre (1914-1918)

Fabriquées et émises pour circuler et diffuser un message, les médailles de propagande attendent souvent une résurrection et une seconde vie dans une boîte au fond d'un tiroir. Libérées de leur contexte contemporain, souvent dramatique 1 , impressionnant ou pesant, elles s'offrent, quand on les retrouve, un peu plus sereinement à l'observation et au « déchiffrement » du message qu'elles véhiculaient. Les belligérants au cours de la première guerre mondiale ont largement fait appel aux images de propagande : articles de presse illustrés, cartes postales, photographies originales ou retouchées, censurées ou soumises aux avis de l'autorité avant parution… La médaille porte des images politiques « en dur », imprimées dans le métal. Autrefois l'Empire romain fit généreusement usage de ce support. Remise au goût du jour à l'époque de la Renaissance, dès le XVe siècle en Italie, la médaille renoue avec la tradition du message politique. Les séries frappées pour Louis XIV, et un peu plus tôt, les jetons historiés des Pays-Bas utilisés au cours de la guerre dite de quatre-vingts ans (1568-1648) menée par les Provinces-Unies et d'un autre côté par les partisans de la Contre-Réforme ne sont rien d'autre que des instruments de propagande. La médaille est destinée à être commentée par celui qui la détient ou la transmet. Des idées fortes doivent apparaître ouvertement, confirmées par la légende, ou encore, être comprises par l'affichage de thèmes allégoriques ou narratifs. À partir de 1914, pour les besoins de justification d'une guerre qu'on croyait encore « classique » alors qu'elle était devenue « totale », on mobilisera les moyens de communication par l'image, les plus nouveaux comme la photographie (souvent soumise à la censure et parfois truquée…), le dessin, la carte postale et la caricature, on aura aussi recours à cette ancienne technique : la médaille, en particulier en Allemagne 2. Une disparité de style et d'inspiration semble cohabiter.

1 Les médailles de propagande émises aux Pays-Bas au cours du XVIe siècle et pendant les guerres contre Louis XIV, suivent déjà cette tournure « dramatique ». De nombreux exemples sont décrits et commentés par Gerard Van Loon (traduction française de l'abbé Prévost) dans : L'histoire métallique des XVII provinces…, 4 vol., La Haye, 1732-36.

2 Voir à ce sujet une courte présentation sur : http://www.sacra-moneta.com/Monnaies-du-monde/MEDAILLES-DE-LA-PREMIERE-GUERRE-MONDIALE.html 3 Cette légende tente de placer le combat mené par la Triple Alliance dans « bon droit » moral dépassant des différences religieuses…

The Guerilla Star and campaign medals of Indonesia: history and symbolism of early Indonesian awards = Bintang Gerilya dan Satyalancana-Satyalancana Peristiwa: sejarah dan simbolisme tanda-tanda kehormatan bungar
The paper traces the history of the first Indonesian military award - The Guerilla Star, or Bintang Gerilya. The paper also examines the picture of Indonesian awards published on Wikipedia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Indonesian_Military_Honour.jpg . The medal bar includes the Guerilla Star and seven medals. These medals are for the Independence Wars against the Dutch and for suppressions of several uprisings since the Madiun Affair as well as for the annexation of West Irian and Confrontation with Malaysia.

La disputa per Menorca entre les potències colonials del segle XVIII (França, Anglaterra i Espanya) va tenir el seu reflex en diverses medalles i gitons, darrere de les quals s'amaguen les històries de diversos episodis de tensions entre elles. Aquest article les recull totes.
Disputes for Minorca among the colonial powers during the 18th century (France, England and Spain) had their reflection in a number of medals and tokens. Behind them, there is the story of several episodes of the tensions in which they were involve. This article pretends to list all of these medals.

In this richly illustrated catalogue of the ANS exhibit, "Full Circle: The Olympic Heritage in Coins and Medals," the author examines the role that numismatic material relating to both the ancient and modern Games has played in social and political contexts. In addition to the introductory essay, the catalogue provides a brief overview of the history of the Games and discusses over 130 objects, including ancient Greek coins, vases and sporting equipment, as well as modern medals, coins, and Olympic ephemera.

The catalogue shows a brought spectrum of the history of money. From Paper money issues, Orders and badges, Medals, coins and tokens. For more informations: https://www.leipziger-muenzhandlung.de/auktionen/ https://www.leipziger-muenzhandlung.de/en/auctions/

Представлена на рецензування магістерська робота подана у формі
рукопису загальним обсягом 87 сторінок друкованого тексту, включаючи ілюстровані додатки. Роботу виконано студентом ІІ курсу історичного факультету Київського Національного університету ім. Тараса Шевченка – Володимиром Григоровичем Лазаренко під науковим керівництвом професора Ірини Нінелівни Войцехівської.

Katalog zbiorów Zamku Królewskiego w Warszawie i Fundacji Zbiorów im. Ciechanowieckich. Obejmuje 461 pozycji (łącznie 687 medali) i podzielony został na sześć rozdziałów: medale królewskie, serie medalierskie, medale osobistości, ślubne, religijne oraz medale państw zaborczych. Medale upamiętniają ważne  wydarzenia, zwycięskie bitwy, małżeństwa, ceremonie koronacyjne i pogrzebowe, ale nade wszystko ukazują splendor monarchii i jej prestiż.

Gabinet Numizmatyczny rozpoczął swoją działalność w odbudowywanym Zamku Królewskim w 1981 r. Zdecydowano wówczas, że profilem nowych zbiorów będą numizmaty polskie i z Polską związane. Cała obecnie posiadana przez Zamek kolekcja medali została stworzona od nowa, dawny zbiór przepadł niestety po rozbiorach Rzeczypospolitej.

Katalog dowodzi, że sztuka medalierska jest nadal ceniona, a zbiory numizmatyczne stanowią ważną część kolekcji Zamku Królewskiego.

Full pdf version also available on the official website of Arx Regia - publishing house of The Royal Castle in Warsaw:
https://arxregia.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Medale-polskie_t-1.pdf

II. Abdülhamid'in madalya siyaseti nedir? Osmanlı Devleti’nde 18. yüzyıldan itibaren çok çeşitli madalya ve nişanlar verildiği görülmektedir. Verilen madalyaların sayısı ve çeşitleri ise devletin zayıflamasına paralel olarak 19. ve 20. yüzyıllarda kıyas kabul etmez bir biçimde artış göstermiştir. Başlangıçta yalnızca taltif amacıyla verilen madalyalar, daha sonra hem iç hem de dış siyasette bir araç olarak kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Bilhassa Sultan II. Abdülhamid devrinde (1876-1909) madalyalar hiç olmadığı kadar sık ve farklı amaçlarla kullanılmıştır. Sembolizmi farklı enstrümanlar üzerinden güçlü bir şekilde kullanan Sultan, takdir ettiği kişilere madalya tevdi ettiği kadar takdirini kazanmak istediği kişilere yahut karşısında olup da yanına çekmek istediği muhaliflere de çok sayıda madalya vermiştir. 1891 yılında ihdas ettiği Liyakat Madalyası da döneminde verilen diğer madalyalar gibi geniş bir kullanım alanına sahiptir. Hem iç hem de dış siyasette önemli görevler ifa eden bu madalya II. Abdülhamid’den Cumhuriyet’e miras kalmıştır. Bu çalışmada II. Abdülhamid’in madalya siyaseti; saltanatı sırasında ihdas ettiği Liyakat Madalyası örneği üzerinden, arşiv belgelerinden yararlanmak suretiyle açıklanmaya çalışılmıştır.

Katalog zbiorów Zamku Królewskiego w Warszawie i Fundacji Zbiorów im. Ciechanowieckich. Obejmuje 461 pozycji (łącznie 687 medali) i podzielony został na sześć rozdziałów: medale królewskie, serie medalierskie, medale osobistości, ślubne, religijne oraz medale państw zaborczych. Medale upamiętniają ważne  wydarzenia, zwycięskie bitwy, małżeństwa, ceremonie koronacyjne i pogrzebowe, ale nade wszystko ukazują splendor monarchii i jej prestiż.

Gabinet Numizmatyczny rozpoczął swoją działalność w odbudowywanym Zamku Królewskim w 1981 r. Zdecydowano wówczas, że profilem nowych zbiorów będą numizmaty polskie i z Polską związane. Cała obecnie posiadana przez Zamek kolekcja medali została stworzona od nowa, dawny zbiór przepadł niestety po rozbiorach Rzeczypospolitej.

Katalog dowodzi, że sztuka medalierska jest nadal ceniona, a zbiory numizmatyczne stanowią ważną część kolekcji Zamku Królewskiego.

Full pdf version also available on the official website of Arx Regia - publishing house of The Royal Castle in Warsaw:
https://arxregia.pl/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Medale-polskie_t-2.pdf

The famous "Seal of Nero, a Roman intaglio depicting Apollo, Marsyas and Olympus, was once in the collection of Lorenzo il Magnifico and is now in the National Museum of Naples. Two gems related to that "Seal of Nero" are published here for the first time: one, a severely damaged intaglio kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, is supposed to date from the third quarter of the first century BC. Another gem with a similar motif, a refined Renaissance cameo, recentlya ppeared in Oxfordshire and is now in a private collection in London. It is presumed that this perfectly preserved piece originally was in the possession of the Medici. The author considers a possible attribution of this work to the young Michelangelo Buonarroti and discusses a copy shown in a portrait painting by Botticelli now in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt on the Main. (summary by Matthias Barth)

Numismatic collections had been part of castle libraries since the Renaissance. Librarian Dr Helga Turková, to whom this volume is dedicated, catalogued the nationalised library of the Poběžovice (Ronsperg in German) Castle in summers 1987 and 1988. The last private owner was Johann Count Coudenhove-Kalergi (1893–1965) sent out copies of the four different medals he ordered between 1917 and 1940 (nos. 4–7). His younger brother Richard Nikolaus (1894–1972) was the founder of the first popular movement for a united Europe (nos. 8–9). Charles Maria Coudenhove from a different branch of the family, was between 1896 and 1911 a stern governor of Bohemia (no. 1). His brother Max Julius was the last holder of the post when the Republic was proclaimed in 1918 (nos. 2–3).

In den Jahren 1996 und 2000/2001 fanden im Wiener Stephansdom baubegleitende Grabungen statt, in deren Rahmen unter anderem ein ausgedehnter frühneuzeitlicher, beigabenführender und in den Jahren 1783/1784 endender Bestattungshorizont freigelegt wurde. Im Kontext dieser Gräber kamen 57 religiöse Medaillen und Anhänger sowie eine kleine Gagatfigur mit Darstellung des in Santiago de Compostela verehrten hl. Jakobus zum Vorschein, die zusammen im Rahmen des Artikels vorgestellt werden.
Religiöse Medaillen und Anhänger traten in den letzten Jahren in Zusammenhang mit der Freilegung frühneuzeitlicher Friedhöfe vermehrt ins Blickfeld der Archäologie, insgesamt ist die Erforschung dieser Objektgruppe aber noch wenig weit gediehen, sodass die Vorlage einen Beitrag zur Hebung des Kenntnisstandes leisten möchte. Als Medien frühneuzeitlicher Glaubensinhalte und Frömmigkeitspraktiken sind sie eng mit dem Wallfahrtswesen und der Heiligenverehrung verbunden und lassen damit beispielsweise Rückschlüsse auf Einzugsgebiete von Wallfahrtsorten zu oder zeigen allgemein religiöse Orientierungen der Bevölkerung einer Region an. Darüber hinaus bedienten sich kirchliche Institutionen und religiöse Vereinigungen, wie Orden und Bruderschaften, zum Zwecke der Eigenwerbung oder als Abzeichen dieser Kleindevotionalien.
Nach allgemeinen Erläuterungen zu den historischen und frömmigkeitsgeschichtlichen Rahmenbedingungen im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert und einem kurzen Abriss zu (Forschungs-)Geschichte und Aussagepotenzial religiöser Medaillen wird der Fundkomplex vorgestellt. Am Beginn steht die Darlegung der Befundzusammenhänge, der verwendeten Materialien, der Herstellungstechniken und der Datierungsmöglichkeiten, im Anschluss werden die auf Grundlage der Fundobjekte fassbaren Wallfahrtsorte und personalen Verehrungsziele (Jesus, Maria, Heilige etc.) vorgestellt. Ein erster Vergleich zwischen den im Wiener Stephansdom nachweisbaren Pilgerdestinationen und einem Sample religiöser Medaillen und Devotionalien mit Wallfahrtsbezug aus dem ehemaligen Stadtfriedhof in St. Pölten (Grabungen Domplatz) zeigt Übereinstimmungen und Unterschiede auf. Den Schluss der Fundvorlage bilden zwei Objekte, die mit Institutionen in Verbindung stehen, so eine dem Piaristenorden zuordenbare Medaille sowie ein Abzeichen einer beim Schottenkloster angesiedelten Bruderschaft des 18. Jahrhunderts.

In 1996 and 2000/2001, excavations took place in accompaniment of construction work at Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral, during which, among other things, an extensive early modern burial horizon containing grave goods and ending in the years 1783/1784 was uncovered. Associated with these graves were 57 religious medals and pendants as well as a small jet figurine depicting St. James, venerated in Santiago de Compostela, which are presented together in this article.
Religious medals and pendants have increasingly come to the attention of archaeologists in recent years in connection with the uncovering of early modern cemeteries, but overall research on this group of objects has not yet progressed very far. This presentation aims to expand our present knowledge. As media of early modern beliefs and piety practices, the objects are closely connected with pilgrimage and the veneration of saints and thus allow conclusions to be drawn about the catchment areas of places of pilgrimage, for example, or point to the general religious orientation of a regional population. In addition, ecclesiastical institutions and religious associations, such as orders and confraternities, used these small devotional objects for self-promotion or as badges.
The finds complex is introduced following an examination of the historical and piety-historical framework conditions in the 17th and 18th centuries and a brief outline of the (research) history and interpretative potential of religious medals. It begins with a description of the finds context, the materials used, the production techniques and the dating possibilities, followed by a presentation of the places of pilgrimage and personal targets of veneration (Jesus, Mary, saints, etc.) identified on the basis of the finds. A preliminary comparison between the pilgrimage destinations represented in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna and a sample of religious medals and devotional objects with pilgrimage references from the former city cemetery in St. Pölten (Domplatz excavations) shows both similarities and differences. Two objects connected with institutions, a medal belonging to the Piarist Order and a badge of an 18th century confraternity based at the Schottenkloster (Scots Monastery), conclude the finds.

Il volume prende in considerazione la variegata e cospicua produzione di medaglie papali, condotta a Roma durante il regno di Urbano VIII, per indagare il ruolo che rivestì (tanto nella sua portata comunicativa, quanto nella sua valenza storico artistica) la medaglistica pontificia in età moderna. Nel saggio vengono analizzati, in tre distinti capitoli, i processi creativi (dalla scelta dei temi alla stesura dei programmi, dalla selezione dei modelli iconografici all'esecuzione materiale, dal contributo di singoli artisti all'impiego di strumenti meccanici di riproduzione), le funzioni (tanto devozionali, quanto di rappresentanza, sotto il controllo inquisitoriale e in rapporto a precise cerimonie) e la fortuna visiva e letteraria (dall'affermarsi di una valorizzazione in chiave seriale in medaglieri poetici, in riproduzioni ad affresco e nel collezionismo, fino alla creazione di una trattatistica specifica, modellata sui contemporanei interessi antiquari) delle medaglie papali tra Cinque e Seicento, identificando nel pontificato di Urbano VIII il momento in cui questo oggetto venne consapevolmente innalzato a strumento ufficiale di autorappresentazione pontificia. Nel catalogo l'organizzazione dei singoli esemplari per raggruppamenti tematici non solo è funzionale ad una loro più attenta valutazione tecnica (in rapporto allo stato dei conii, al reimpiego di questi in coniazioni arbitrarie, ecc.), ma anche ad una più efficace indagine delle iconografie, sia nel loro dialogo con la medaglistica precedente, sia nel complessivo contesto della produzione artistica urbaniana.

B. Weisser, Medallic Art in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the First World War, in: P. van Alfen und P. Phagan (Hrsg.), The Art of Devastation. Medals and Posters of the Great War (New York 2017) 77-135.
No country produced so many different medals during the First World War from August 1914 to 1918 as Germany. Some medals were struck in hundreds of exemplars, though cast art medals, in contrast, were mostly issued in smaller editions, and due to the circumstances of the period some finished models never reached production. The works differ depending on who commissioned them, which artist carried them out, and what their intended public was. Within the four years we can trace changes both in quantity and in content.
Anyone today approaching the medals of the First World War for the first time will find the great majority of them disconcerting. Our viewing habits are now far removed from those of the early twentieth century. Patriotic pathos and nationalistic slogans are just as foreign to us as the visual language and style of the medals. The emotional resistance and aesthetic reservations that these prompt may be a reason why the study of World War medals is still in its infancy. However, research into the First World War medals has intensified in recent years. With the expiry of copyright limits, nachlasses have become accessible, and online publications are increasingly opening up sources that were previously hard to reach. This is true also of the medals themselves, though most public collections have only in the last few years begun digital publication of their holdings. Even today we still have no survey of all the artists who created medals during the First World War. Nor is there is a general catalog of the medals, and so far only some initial attempts have been made to evaluate the phenomenon in terms of content. Some monographs have been devoted to individual artists, and essays and exhibition catalogs offer introductions and overviews. That being the case, this contribution, too, is necessarily a provisional and incomplete attempt, and not just because of the limited space available.

What were the fortunes of the contributors of the Greek Revolution, in the aftermath of the war? How did the Greek state treat the men and women who participated in the ‘Palingenesia’? What rewards did it reserve for the natives (autochthons) and non-native (‘eterocthones’) warriors, politicians, ‘internal creditors’ and war-affected individuals?
This book focuses on the ‘workshop’ of the reward policies, the first post-revolutionary period 1828-1844. It presents in detail the main material and moral rewards, offered to the fighters by the Greek state. Moreover, it explains how these policies created a model for rewarding the veterans of the subsequent national struggles, during the 19th and 20th century.
The game of the rewards had two sides: the demands of the veterans and the state aspirations. Among them existed foreign agents, personal friendships and rivalries, selfish interests, social differences and national aspirations. The multifaceted history of the rewards emerges from a multitude of sources, combined in a way that highlights the relationships between individuals and governments, private and public discourse, glory and agony, recognition and denial, that always characterise the transition from the excitement of the national struggles to the compromises and the pragmatism of the next day.
Πώς πορεύτηκαν μετά την Επανάσταση του 1821 οι συντελεστές της; Πώς το ελληνικό κράτος αντιμετώπισε τους άνδρες και τις γυναίκες που συμμετείχαν στην Παλιγγενεσία; Ποιες ανταμοιβές επιφύλαξε στους πολεμιστές, τους πολιτικούς, τους «εσωτερικούς πιστωτές» και τους πολεμοπαθείς, αυτόχθονες και ετερόχθονες;
Το ανά χείρας βιβλίο επικεντρώνεται στο «εργαστήρι» των πολιτικών ανταμοιβής, την πρώτη μετεπαναστατική περίοδο 1828-1844, παρουσιάζοντας διεξοδικά τα κύρια μέσα υλικής και ηθικής επιβράβευσης, τα οποία προσέφερε η ελληνική πολιτεία στους αγωνιστές. Ταυτόχρονα, εξηγεί πώς εκείνες οι πολιτικές έγιναν πρόκριμα για ανταμοιβές του κράτους και σε μεταγενέστερους πολέμους του έθνους, κατά τον 19ο και τον 20ό αιώνα.
Το παιχνίδι των ανταμοιβών είχε δύο πλευρές: τα αιτήματα των συντελεστών και τις κρατικές επιδιώξεις. Ανάμεσά τους παρεμβάλλονταν ξένοι παράγοντες, προσωπικές συμπάθειες και αντιπάθειες, ιδιοτελή συμφέροντα, κοινωνικές διαφορές και εθνικές επιδιώξεις. Η πολυδαίδαλη ιστορία των ανταμοιβών αναβλύζει μέσα από πληθώρα πηγών, συνδυαστικά δοσμένων με τρόπο που αναδεικνύει τις αλληλεπιδράσεις αγωνιστών και κυβερνήσεων, ιδιωτικού και δημόσιου λόγου, δόξας και αγωνίας, αναγνώρισης και διαψεύσεων που πάντα χαρακτηρίζουν τη μετάβαση από την έξαρση των εθνικών αγώνων στους συμβιβασμούς και τον πραγματισμό της επόμενης ημέρας.

Τί συνδέει το 1821 με το 1922; Πώς το αρχαίο παρελθόν «εικονογράφησε» το νεοελληνικό Κράτος; Είναι αυτοαναφορική η σχέση των ελίτ του Ελληνικού Κράτους  με την κλασσική Ελλάδα ή διαμεσολαβημένη, με τα μάτια των άλλων; Ποία η σχέση του Δημήτρη Γληνού με το 1821; Ήταν ο Ρήγας ερασιτέχνης νομισματολόγος; Τί συνδέει τον Σεραφείμ Μάξιμο και τον Γεώργιο Σκληρό με τους πολεμάρχους της Επανάστασης; Γιατί η γέννηση, ο εκσυγχρονισμός και η αναγέννηση του Κράτους  αναπαραστάθηκε από τον φοίνικα (εως το συμβολικό του θάνατο, από τη δικτατορία της επταετίας); Τί θα έλεγε ο Φρόυντ για όλα αυτά; Είναι το 1922 εφαλτήριο για τον εξορθολογισμό του Ελληνικού Κράτους; Ποιες είναι οι ευρύτερες γεωπολιτικές προεκτάσεις της Μικρασιατικής Καταστροφής και πώς διαμορφώθηκε το αφήγημα για την εκατονταετηρίδα της Επανάστασης στις νέες συνθήκες που δημιούργησε η εσωτερική κρίση της δεκαετίας του 1920 και η Μεγάλη Ύφεση; 
Με βάση ήδη δημοσιευμένη έρευνα της συγγραφέως αναφορικά με τις οικονομικές συνθήκες του ελληνικού Μεσοπολέμου, τις δημοσιονομικές επιπτώσεις της Μικρασιατικής Εκστρατείας  και της τότε γεωπολιτικής θέσης της Ελλάδας, αυτά και άλλα ερωτήματα διερευνώνται στην παρούσα μελέτη ως απόρροια των ιδεολογικών μετασχηματισμών της κρίσιμης για τη χώρα μεσοπολεμικής περιόδου. Η πολλαπλή ζωή των συμβόλων επέτρεψε, επίσης, την ενσωμάτωση στην παρούσα μελέτη νέας έρευνας για τις νομισματικές πραγματικότητες στην Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, την Ελλάδα της Επανάστασης και την καποδιστριακή Ελληνική Πολιτεία.

In the 17th century, especially after the Thirty Years War, Sweden was engaged with demonstrating and presenting itself as the new great power it had become. Particularly the visual culture was a fine way to express the royal desires and ambitions, and what better way to show Sweden’s new age of greatness than through medals, the baroque business card.I strive to illustrate the significance of medals and the cultural context in which they were produced, which includes all components as the ordering of the medal, the medal artist and in the end the final item. The three German medal artists Johan Rethe, Johan Georg Breuer and Anton Meybusch were one of the first of their kind who came to Sweden to work for the Swedish Crown and they left apparent impressions on the Swedish medal art. Their carreers shall act as an example for cultural transfer, as well as it shall show the importance of hiring abled medal artists to properly use the medal arts’ potential.My focus is set on how the Swedish monarchs, Kristina, Karl X Gustav and Karl XI used medals to merchandise themselves and in what manner their medals were received. In addition to that it seems to be of importance to evaluate in which way the medals reached their intended public and who the planned recipients were. Analysis of the compound personifications of the royal court produced during the baroque era call for a careful and observant deciphering of their attributes and an awareness of how these medals could yield complex messages. Paradoxical, through pictures the message becomes more apparent and complicated at the same time. It is vital to understand the images’ function in relationship to the commissioning body and his position and personal taste, as well as the medals’ general significance as a cultural object.