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Commemorative and portrait medals gained popularity during the Renaissance and medal making spread out beyond the Italian peninsula. In the Netherlands, the period of intense economic change and new prosperity of the 17th century coincided with a new interest in medals as a portable, reproducible art form suitable for depicting a wide range of subjects. Some medals depict important people, like rulers, elected officials, naval and military heroes; some show events, such as significant battles, treaties signed, marriages; and others show buildings or institutions that spoke of the United Provinces’ prosperity and commerce, like the town hall and the stock exchange in Amsterdam. The obverse (or primary side) of this medal shows a classical dressed statuesque woman, who may represent Prosperity.
View: Side 1
Prosperity
Netherlandish
17th century
Object Place: The Netherlands
Medium/Technique
Metal; silver
Dimensions
Overall (Diameter): 7.3 cm (2 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Maida and George Abrams Collection—Theodora Wilbour Fund in memory of Zoë Wilbour
Accession Number2021.154
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsNumismatics – Medals
Commemorative and portrait medals gained popularity during the Renaissance and medal making spread out beyond the Italian peninsula. In the Netherlands, the period of intense economic change and new prosperity of the 17th century coincided with a new interest in medals as a portable, reproducible art form suitable for depicting a wide range of subjects. Some medals depict important people, like rulers, elected officials, naval and military heroes; some show events, such as significant battles, treaties signed, marriages; and others show buildings or institutions that spoke of the United Provinces’ prosperity and commerce, like the town hall and the stock exchange in Amsterdam. The obverse (or primary side) of this medal shows a classical dressed statuesque woman, who may represent Prosperity.
ProvenanceApril 21-22, 1997, sale (auction no. 18), Laurens Schulman, Bussum, Netherlands, lot 1268, to George S. and Maida Abrams, Newton, MA [see note]; 2021, sold by George S. Abrams to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 2021)
NOTE: Purchased as depicting the Peace of Nijmegen (dated to 1679, and by the artist Roettier). The medal was first lent to the MFA in 1999, and since that time has been unattributed and called Prosperity.
NOTE: Purchased as depicting the Peace of Nijmegen (dated to 1679, and by the artist Roettier). The medal was first lent to the MFA in 1999, and since that time has been unattributed and called Prosperity.