Presentation medal (Gnadenpfennig) of Maximilian, Archduke of Austria (1558–1620)

Alessandro Abondio

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This presentation medal was designed by an imperial artist for the Habsburg Archduke Maximilian III of Austria, brother of Archduke Albert VII. On its reverse is Maximilian III’s motto and the image of an ancient Roman army camp. The very same camp architecture can be found on the Otho dish, where it provides the setting for Otho’s noble suicide. Both the dish and the medal were inspired by an image published in Du Choul’s antiquarian treatise. Correspondences such as these suggest that whatever the origin of the Silver Caesars, they were likely designed with Habsburg iconography in mind.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art