Dating back to 1553, ‘Epitome thesauri antiquitatum’ is one of the most interesting objects at the exhibition. Its author – Jacobus Strada – presents therein a design for a gallery of medal portraits of emperors: from Julius Caesar and rulers of ancient Rome, to his contemporary German emperors.
Medals were also made to commemorate the brave achievements of commanders and peaceful activities of the clergy, artists, scholars and distinguished leaders of local government – municipalities.
Collections, or simply designs for series of medals, became the subject of separate publications which increase the importance of both the commemorated people or events, and the medallists and their works. The old prints gathered in the National Museum include album publications with meticulous drawings presenting the achievements of individual artists, as well as academic numismatic studies analyzing in extensive historical comments the contents provided to us by ancient medalists, who sometimes placed magic signs, hieroglyphs and inscriptions made in their exotic handwriting on their works. Medal depictions also appeared as illustrations of historical or biographical works, on the one hand testifying to the esteem that the recipient of the coin enjoyed amongst his contemporaries, and on the other – constituting an example of the importance of the event it was meant to commemorate.
The exhibition of old prints on the subject of medal-making constitutes the first part of the series ‘De Re Nummaria’. Other displays, on the theme of major and minor numismatic collections and Polish coins featured in old prints, will be opened in 2017.
Curator: Agnieszka Perzanowska
