The Medal in Early Modern Sweden : Significances and Practices
Author
Summary, in English
Parallel to Sweden’s historical and cultural development, the analysis follows medal art chronologically and thematically in five chapters. The study addresses the transformation from being a royal gift to prize medals and rewards and from limited use to being available at an open market. It examines how the medal was viewed, handled, circulated, and used plus what significance people ascribed to it. The medium aided the sitter’s commemoration, self-fashioning, and legitimisation while being used as a gift, worn as a jewel, collected, discussed, or viewed as an artefact with antiquarian purposes. The medal was appreciated for its potential to express various themes on a small surface, its exclusive material and practical size. However, much of its meaning was connected to the sensory experience of touching the medal. The medium’s materiality was an essential element of how the medal was used, the way its visual design communicated with the beholder, and the importance that the object conveyed. By its broad and exhaustive timeline, the thesis presents a comprehensive case study on the phenomenon of medal art and aids in understanding how early modern art and visual culture was used and how these uses changed over time.
Department/s
Publishing year
2021-11-12
Language
English
Publication/Series
Mediehistoriskt arkiv
Volume
52
Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Mediehistoria, Lunds universitet
Topic
- Art History
- Visual Arts
Keywords
- Medals
- medal art
- Sweden
- early modern period
- visual culture
- materiality
- art anthropology
- visual media
- gift giving
- memoria
- numismatics
- self-fashioning
- uses of art
- emblem
Status
Published
Project
- Collecting glory : Early modern Swedish medals as gifts and objects for collections
Supervisor
- Solfrid Söderlind
- Ludwig Qvarnström
- Johan Eriksson
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1654-6601
- ISSN: 2002-5017
- ISBN: 978-91-985800-5-1
- ISBN: 978-91-985800-4-4
Defence date
10 December 2021
Defence time
13:15
Defence place
LUX C121 eller via Zoom - Meeting ID: 692 4090 6355, Password: 199973
Opponent
- Aleksandra Lipinska (professor)