Vrede van Rastatt, penning ter ere van Francisca Sybilla, prinses-weduwe van Baden-Baden en Lodewijk Georg, markgraaf van Baden-Baden

About this artwork

Schenking van mevrouw J.M. van Gelder-Nijhoff

Art Historical Context

This striking 1714 medal by German medallist Georg Wilhelm Vestner commemorates the Peace of Rastatt, one of the treaties that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession. Measuring just 3.5 cm in diameter and weighing 14.71 grams, the piece honors Margrave Louis George of Baden-Baden and his wife, Princess Franziska Sibylla Augusta, widow of the previous margrave. Such medals served as portable tokens of diplomacy and loyalty, distributed among courtiers and allies to celebrate the fragile peace between the Holy Roman Empire and France. Vestner worked in the refined tradition of struck metalwork, using hardened dies to imprint crisp portraits and allegorical scenes onto precious metal. The small scale and precise craftsmanship reflect both technical skill and the political importance of the occasion. Though modest in size, these objects carried significant cultural weight as lasting reminders of treaties that reshaped European borders. The medal entered the collection as a generous gift from Mrs. J.M. van Gelder-Nijhoff, preserving a tangible link to early eighteenth-century diplomacy for today’s visitors.

About the Artist

Georg Wilhelm Vestner · 1677–1740

German, Schweinfurth 1677–1740 Nuremberg