Speaker
Description
As patron of the arts, Queen Christina was actively engaged in the design and production of her medals. She invited medal artists from abroad to work for her at the Swedish court and sought the development of medal art. Most of all, she launched a unique iconographic style. In contrast to her predecessors and successors, Queen Christina employed an antique-inspired imagery unusual for that time .
This paper presents a wide array of Christina’s medals produced during her reign as Queen of Sweden (1632–1654), from adolescence to abdication, which illustrates this unusual female rulership. It will show how she utilised medals to negotiate dynastic inheritance, female codes, and discuss how she merged tradition and novelty to promote herself as a Nordic Minerva.
