SCULPTURE | MEDALS | THE A.W. PROJECT
EXHIBITIONS | MAKING MEDALS | CONTACT | LINKS


1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Medals: A Little History
Coins are the ancestors of medals. Roman coins often portrayed the faces of emperors, politicians and generals. The Roman medallion was developed at the same time and they were so beautiful that the Romans did not want to use them for currency. They were made larger and given as presents, collected and worn as jewellery. Medallic art developed from these ideas.

In the courts of the Italian lords there was serious collecting of coins and medallions. The poet, Patriarch (d.1374 AD), lived in the court of the Lords of Carrara and he wrote about these coins and the beauty of the current ones. He became the first known coin and medal collector.

The first cast medal was made by the Italian painter, Antonio Pisano (c. 1395 - 1455 AD) who was known as Pisanello. It is his creation in both form and content. Pisanello was connected with the Gonzagas, rulers of Mantua from 1424 AD until the end of his life.
The Byzantine emperor, John VIII Palaeologus visited Italy in an attempt to strengthen his empire. He wanted to create unity between the Greek and Latin churches. The Gonzagas commissioned Pisanello to make a medal to commemorate the occasion. He modeled it in wax and cast it in bronze. The medal has a portrait of John VIII Palaeologus wearing a very distinctive Greek hat on the obverse side and a pastoral scene of John praying at an outdoor crucifix on the reverse side. This large, two-sided and quite marvelous medal was created in 1439 AD.


Portrait medal of emperor John VIII Palaeologus
cast bronze, 103 mm diameter
Pisanello's formula for an art medal, depicting a portrait on the obverse side and a scene on the reverse side placed on a circular disc has been used right up to the present. This unique relationship between the obverse and the reverse is an advantage that the medal has over other art forms. Pisanello continued to produce medals until his death. Other artists were intrigued and began working in this new art form. This was the beginning of the cast art medal.

During the renaissance medal making spread from Italy to Germany, Holland and the rest of Europe. Medals were cast in bronze, silver, gold and other metals. Terra cotta, ivory, wood, and other materials were also used.

Around 1830 AD the pantograph (reducing machine) began to be used in France. This machine could accurately reduce in scale a sculptor's model and engrave it into a steel die directly. This led to a great interest in the creation of struck medals.

Louis XII of France and his wife Anne of Brittany Collective effort of a small group of local artists. Modelling done by Nicolas Leclerc and Jean de Saint-Prist. Commissioned by the City of Leon on March 18, 1499, Cast bronze 114 mm diameter
The idea that an art medal had to be circular was completely gone by the end of the 1800's. Medals were made in many styles including Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

Leda and the Swan by Lavrillier Struck bronze 16 mm x 100 mm
After WWII medallic art grew with organizations in France and Eastern Europe. The International Art Medal Society / Federation Internationale de la Medaille (FIDEM) established regular congresses and exhibitions to encourage artists to make medals. Many countries formed their own societies including the British Art Medal Society (BAMS), the American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA) and the Medallic Art Society of Canada (MASC)

International Art Medal Federation (FIDEM)
www.fidem-medals.org
British Art Medal Society (BAMS)
www.bams.org
American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA)
www.amsamedals.org

The Judgement of Paris by Del Newbigging
cast bronze, 90 mm long x 65 mm wide x 15 mm thick

These instructions are intended to assist medal makers in creating art medals. If you have any questions or do not understand something please email Del Newbigging for help. Permission is given to photocopy this information if you need more copies, however it is not to be sold.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
del@delnewbigging.com