Nemet͡s︡kie medali XVI veka: katalog kollekt͡s︡ii = German medals of the 16th century : catalogue of the collection

Abstract

The striking of usually circular thin pieces of metal for coins was an ancient practice, but the same technique applied to commemorate people and events originated much later: in Italy around 1400. By the sixteenth century this form of plastic art had spread throughout Europe and flourished especially in Germany, where medalists received commissions for portraits not only from rulers, but also from prominent townsmen, churchmen, scholars, and even ordinary burghers seeking to preserve their likeness in a durable form of portrait. The author of the Hermitage catalogue points out the relation of the medalist's art to other forms of fine and applied art such as sculpture, drawing, and jewelry. She traces the formation of the Hermitage collection and underscores its high quality: works based on drawings by Albrecht Dürer, for example, and many pieces by the finest German medalists of the period such as Hans Kraft, Hans Schwarz, Matthes Gebel, Ludwig Neufahrer, Joachim Deschler, Lorenz Rosenbaum, Tobias Wolf, and Valentin Maler. --