Medal of Anne of Austria (obverse) and (reverse) (1660): Art, History and Details

Medal of Anne of Austria (obverse) and (reverse) (1660) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean Warin (French, 1604–1672).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Jean Warin was the foremost medalist in 17th-century France. As the chief designer of coins, his relationship with King Louis XIII was exceptionally close; he convinced the king that commemorative medals were the most important artistic medium for propaganda. Warin revolutionized the production of medals by introducing the raised edge, allowing greater ease in striking medals. This change fueled the shift from casting medals to the more recently invented process of striking, or pressing medals from a die. This work is one of many he composed of Queen Anne of Austria (1601–1666). Although she was born in Spain as the Infanta, or princess, of Spain and Portugal, her title "of Austria" refers to her Habsburg heritage as well as her title of Archduchess of Austria. The reverse depicts a blooming lily, a symbol of France, and is inscribed "it glories in its divine nourishment," referring to her son, the adolescent King Louis XIV.

Object facts

• Title: Medal of Anne of Austria (obverse) and (reverse)
• Date: 1660
• Creator attribution: Jean Warin (French, 1604–1672)
• Culture: France
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Diameter: 6 cm (2 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Sculpture
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1987.195

A detail from the museum

This medal contains both a traditional portrait as well as a symbolic depiction of another individual.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• George, Philippe. Art et Patrimoine en Wallonie des Origines à 1789: Essai de Synthèse à la Lumière des Collections Américaines et Européennes. Namur: Institut du Patrimoine Wallon, 2017.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.