Die Medaillen und Schaumünzen der Kaiser und Könige aus dem Haus Habsburg im Münzkabinett des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien, Band XI

A medal comprises all the advantages of a monument in miniature format. It bears witness to long-gone epochs, recounts historical events, occasions, and commemorations, recalls important or famous personages, and reflects coeval taste in art. Portraits and show-pieces, medals were always sought-after and functioned as an important element of princely self-display. Published as part of the series of collection catalogues of the Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, these two volumes explore the gold, silver, and bronze medals produced during the reign of Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria (1835–48). They were struck at the Mint (Hauptmünzamt) in Vienna, then the centre of coinage for the entire Habsburg empire. The author is the first to explore these strictly regulated procedures, looking at everything from the conception of the image(s) and inscription(s) to preparatory sketches to the production of the die to minting and distributing these medals to the different groups of recipients. Volume I begins with a short biography of the monarch and explores his public image and the different types of medals he commissioned, as well as their importance and function. Volume II is conceived as a comprehensive catalogue and offers the first-ever reconstruction of individual, occasion-related production processes. By conflating archival research and the study of original sources with art-historical and numismatic information, the author has compiled a thorough survey of medals and their role in princely representation during the first half of the nineteenth century.