medal

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medal. A small, flat piece of metal bearing a design commemorating a person or event and produced in multiple copies; usually it resembles an outsize coin, with a portrait on one side and a complementary image on the other. Although there are precedents of a sort in Roman art, medals as we know them originated in the 15th century, inspired by the Renaissance interest in antique coins (with their vivid portraits of emperors). Pisanello is regarded as the father of the art form. The first of his twenty-odd medals honoured the Byzantine emperor John VIII who visited Italy in 1438. On one side is a profile portrait of the emperor, and on the other is an image of him praying at a shrine. Pisanello subsequently made medals for the ruling families of several Italian states, including the Este of Ferrara and the Gonzaga of Mantua. His innovation was soon imitated and during the second half of the 15th century the production of medals was established in virtually every notable art centre in Italy. In the early 16th century the fashion spread outside Italy, particularly to Germany, where a specialist profession of medallist soon developed.

Although there is considerable variation in detail, most Renaissance medals follow the same basic format. Occasionally they are ovals or other shapes, but the vast majority are circular and usually between about 5 and 10 cm (2–4 in) in diameter (that is, appreciably larger than coins, although a few are coin sized). Some of them commemorate significant events (for example battles), but most were made in honour of a particular individual. One side (the obverse) almost always has a profile portrait, and the other (the reverse) generally has a symbol or image alluding to the subject's character or achievements. Both sides usually have an inscription in Latin (or occasionally Greek); typically these identify the subject and sometimes they name the artist. Most early medals were made of bronze (lead and silver were also occasionally used), and they were produced by casting, like miniature works of sculpture. In the early 16th century, however, machinery was introduced by means of which the design could be stamped on to a blank piece of metal. This mechanization meant that more impressions of a medal could be made, and consequently they could be more widely circulated.

Improvements in technology led to mass production of medals, with a consequent general drop in artistic standards. However, there have been periodic revivals of interest in producing cast medals in the original Renaissance fashion. Alphonse Legros, for example, began producing cast medals in the 1880s and—as an influential teacher at the Slade School—he inspired several other artists in Britain to follow his example.

medal a piece of metal, cast or struck, often coin-shaped. The obverse and reverse bear bas-relief and inscription. Commemorative medals are issued in memory of a notable person or event. Civil and military decorations are those medals (disk, cross, or star) conferred by state, order, or organization for signal bravery or service or for distinction in science or the arts. Religious medals, often worn by Roman Catholics, are believed to be efficacious if blessed by the Church; an indulgence may be attached to a blessed medal. Medals have ranked as works of art since Greek times; Roman medals are notable for their realistic portraiture. Medals returned to fashion during the Renaissance, especially through the fine work of Pisanello . Many sculptors and painters were famous also as medalists, notably Leone Leoni, Benvenuto Cellini, and Albrecht Dürer. France in the 19th cent. became the leader in producing medals of artistic merit. Cast medals were predominant in the 15th cent., but by the 16th had been largely superseded by die-struck medals. Dies may be cut direct, or a wax or plaster model about four times the intended size of the medal may be reproduced as a metal electrotype from which a die is made in the desired size by a reducing machine operating on the principle of the pantograph. See also numismatics ; ribbon .

Bibliography: See J. Babelon, Great Coins and Medals (tr. 1959); A. A. Purves, Collecting Medals and Decorations (1987).

med·al / ˈmedl/ • n. a metal disk with an inscription or design, made to commemorate an event or awarded as a distinction to someone such as a soldier, athlete, or scholar. • v. (med·aled , med·al·ing ; also chiefly Brit. med·alled, med·al·ling) [intr.] earn a medal, esp. in an athletic contest: Norwegian athletes medaled in 12 of the 14 events | [as adj.] the most medaled swimmer in Olympics history. DERIVATIVES: me·dal·lic / məˈdalik/ adj.

medal † metal disk used as a charm, etc. XVI; coin-shaped piece of metal with an inscription, effigy, etc. XVII. — F. médaille — It. medaglia :- Rom. *medallia :- popL. *metallea (n. pl.), f. L. metallum METAL.
So medallion XVII. — F. médaillon — It. medaglione, augm. of medaglia.

Medals. See Awards, Decorations, and Honors.

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