Medal

Art Historical Context

This elegant silver medal, created by the German artist Friedrich Hagen in 1543, exemplifies the refined tradition of Renaissance medal-making in Cologne. Measuring just 1 /16 inches in diameter, the work to the category of medals and plaquettes small-scale sculptural objects to be held, collected, and admired up close Its compact form and precious material highlight the technical precision required to capture human figures in fine relief on a miniature surface. During the sixteenth century, such medals served both as portable portraits and tokens of status, often commemorating notable indivi...

About the Artist

Friedrich Hagenauer · 1490–1546

Friedrich Hagenauer (c. 1490–c. 1546) was a German sculptor and medallist of the Northern Renaissance whose finely wrought portrait medals and carved reliefs placed him among the most accomplished practitioners of his craft in early sixteenth-century Germany. The details of his early life and training remain incompletely documented, but he is believed to have been born in Strasbourg and to have re...