Speaker
Description
Unlike coins, medals were not bound by any restrictions of size or weight. Cast or struck, they were usually larger, thicker and more three-dimensional than the flat coins, sometimes with the obverse and/or reverse shaped in high relief. This phenomenon is especially noticeable in the facing and three-quarter facing portraits frequently seen on medals. However, the compositional scheme of medals, usually similar to that of coins and quite repetitive, was definitively not a fixed standard (as evidenced by e.g. a variety of medal shapes, and inconsistency in the orientation of die axes). In my talk I wish to focus on some artistic devices resulting from the three-dimensionality of medals and those regarding their tangibility. Further I will examine and shortly discuss the ways different medals were or could have been handled and perceived by their owners.
