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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. When Philip II of Spain left the Netherlands in 1559, he asked Margaret of Austria—the illegitimate daughter of the former Holy Roman Emperor Charles V—to act as regent in his stead. She was later replaced by the Duke of Alba in 1567.
View: Reverse
Margaret of Parma, Resignation as Regent of the Netherlands
Jacques Jonghelinck (Flemish, 1530 – 1616)
Flemish
1567 (later cast)
Medium/Technique
Silver
Credit Line
The Maida and George Abrams Collection—Theodora Wilbour Fund in memory of Zoë Wilbour
Accession Number2021.161
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. When Philip II of Spain left the Netherlands in 1559, he asked Margaret of Austria—the illegitimate daughter of the former Holy Roman Emperor Charles V—to act as regent in his stead. She was later replaced by the Duke of Alba in 1567.
Inscriptionsrecto, around edge: MARGARETA DE AVSTRIA DPLT I GERMANI AE INTERIORIS GVB
recto, on sleeve: AET 45 / 1567
verso, around edge: FAVENIE DEO
recto, on sleeve: AET 45 / 1567
verso, around edge: FAVENIE DEO
ProvenanceOctober 3-4, 1988, sale (auction no. 288), Laurens Schulman, Bussum, Netherlands, lot 992, to George S. and Maida Abrams, Newton, MA; 2021, sold by George S. Abrams to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 14, 2021)