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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 portrait of Cardinal Mazarin on this medal is very three-dimensional: the amazing depth adds to the vivacity of the portrait.
Requires Photography
Cardinal Mazarin (Peace of the Pyranees)
Pieter van Abeele (Dutch, 1608–1684)
1660
Credit Line
The Maida and George Abrams Collection
Accession Number2021.169
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsNumismatics – Coins
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 portrait of Cardinal Mazarin on this medal is very three-dimensional: the amazing depth adds to the vivacity of the portrait.
Inscriptionsaround edge: IVLIVS St. ROM ECL CARD MAZARINVS
reverse, around edge: QVI POSVIT FINES SVOS PACEM PSA 47 / D I EQVOS DED
reverse, left and right: ANNO 1660
reverse, around edge: QVI POSVIT FINES SVOS PACEM PSA 47 / D I EQVOS DED
reverse, left and right: ANNO 1660
ProvenanceOctober 3, 1995, purchased at auction by George S. and Maida Abrams, Newton, MA; 2021, gift of George S. Abrams to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 2021)