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France

The medals of France largely followed Italian examples until the end of the sixteenth century, which saw achievements such as the exquisite cast medals and medallions of Guillaume Dupré. The struck medals of Louis XIV’s Histoire métallique (hundreds of medals produced over sixty years to celebrate his reign) dominated medallic art in France, where, in the nineteenth century, cast medals in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance were revived through the work of the sculptor Pierre-Jean David d’Angers.

  • Silver portrait medal of Charles VII crowned and wearing, over armor, a surcoat with three fleurs-de-lis, visor closed and brandishing a sword, riding a horse in a fleur-de-lis-adorned caparison; pearled borders

    Unknown artist
    Charles VII, King of France (b. 1403; r. 1422–61), dated 1455
    Silver, struck
    Diam.: 2 7/16 in. (6.2 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 94

  • Bronze portrait medal of King Louis XII of France wearing his crown over a cap and the collar of the Order of St. Michael

    Nicolas Leclerc (act. 1487–1507) and Jean de Saint-Priest (act. 1490–1516)
    Louis XII, King of France (b. 1462; r. 1498–1515), and Anne of Brittany (1476–1514), dated 1499
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 4 1/2 in. (11.44 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 95

  • Bronze portrait medal of Louise of Savoy wearing a chaperon

    Unknown French artist, after Giovanni Candida
    Louise of Savoy (1476–1531) and Marguerite of Angoulême (1492–1549), ca. 1504–12
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 2 11/16 in. (6.87 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 96

  • Bronze portrait medal of King Henry II of France

    Germain Pilon (ca. 1525–1590)
    Henri II, King of France (b. 1519; r. 1547–59), dated 1559
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 6 7/16 in. (16.36 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 97

  • Bronze portrait medal of Catherine de Bourbon, her hair loosely tied up in classical style, wearing a plain, spiked crown, and a simple dress under drapery pinned at the shoulder

    Unknown artist
    Catherine de Bourbon, Duchess of Bar (1558–1604), dated 1599
    Copper alloy, cast
    2 1/16 × 1 5/8 in. (5.21 × 4.13 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 98

  • Bronze portrait medal of Cosimo II de’ Medici hair worn short and swept back from the forehead, wearing a millstone ruff, the badge of the Order of the Holy Spirit suspended from a ribbon, and ceremonial armor, a commander’s sash, with a tall gorget and ornate decoration; framed by a pearled border

    Guillaume Dupré (ca. 1579–1640)
    Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1590–1621), dated 1613
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 3 11/16 in. (9.31 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 99

  • Bronze portrait medal of Christine of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany wearing a widow’s veil modeled in high relief

    Guillaume Dupré (ca. 1579–1640)
    Christine of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1565–1636), 1613
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 3 11/16 in. (9.3 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 100

  • Guillaume Dupré (ca. 1579–1640)
    Pierre Jeannin (1540–1622), dated 1618
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 7 3/8 in. (18.75 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 101

  • Bronze portrait medal of Pierre Jeannin wearing a magisterial robe over a high-collared shirt

    Jean Warin (1606–1672)
    Antoine Coëffier, called Ruzé, Marquess of Éffiat (1581–1632), dated 1629
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 2 9/16 in. (6.54 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 102

  • Bronze portrait medal of Antoine Coëffier, called Ruzé, Marquis d’Éffiat wearing a lace collar, armor, and the ribbon and cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit

    Jean Warin (1606–1672)
    Anne of Austria (1601–1666) and Louis XIV, King of France
    (b. 1638, r. 1643–1715), 1645 (dated 1638)
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 3 13/16 in. (9.75 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 103

  • Gilt Copper alloy protraying Antoine Coysevox facing right

    Thomas Bernard (1650–1713)
    Antoine Coysevox (1640–1720), dated 1711
    Gilt copper alloy, struck
    Diam.: 2 7/16 in. (6.14 cm)
    Scher Collection; Promised gift to The Frick Collection

    Cat. 104

  • bust of young boy with long tendrils, wearing buttoned coat and long collared shirt blouse

    Antoine Coysevox (1640–1720)
    Louis XV as a Child of Six, 1716
    Marble
    23 1/2 × 20 × 8 3/4 in. (59.7 × 50.8 × 22.2 cm)
    The Frick Collection; Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Ira H. Kaufman, 1990

    Cat. 105

  • Unknown artist
    Meeting of the Estates General, dated 1789
    Lead-tin alloy, cast
    Diam.: 3 1/16 in. (7.72 cm)
    Scher Collection; Promised gift to The Frick Collection

    Cat. 106

  • Lead medal depicting a crowd of armed citizens and members of the National Guard, surrounded by canons and barrels of ammunition, firing at the Bastille, from whose ramparts armed figures return fire

    Bertrand Andrieu (1761–1822)
    Siege of the Bastille, dated 1789
    Lead-tin alloy, cast
    Diam.: 3 1/8 in. (8 cm)
    Scher Collection; Promised gift to The Frick Collection

    Cat. 107

  • Lead medal depicting Napoleon on horseback, wearing military uniform and a commander’s cape, riding through a rocky outcrop, his right hand raised and brandishing bolts of lightning

    Bertrand Andrieu (1761–1822)
    Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821; First Consul 1799–1804; Emperor of France 1804–14/15), dated 1800
    Lead alloy, cast
    Diam.: 2 11/16 in. (6.83 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 108

  • Silver medal of a man in profile to the right with short hair and a laureate

    Bertrand Andrieu (1761–1822) and Nicolas Guy Antoine Brenet (1773–1846)
    Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821; First Consul 1799–1804; Emperor of France 1804–14/15), 1805
    Silver, struck
    Diam.: 1 9/16 in. (4 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 109

  • Gilt bronze portrait medal of Joséphine Bonaparte, hair braided around head and held in place with a fillet, wearing a tiara of oak leaves and acorns, a comb or tiara edged with pearls, a pendant earring, a pearl necklace, and a delicate, high-standing lace collar

    Pierre-Jean David d’Angers (1788–1856)
    Josephine Bonaparte (1763–1814; Empress Consort of France 1804–10; Queen Consort of Italy 1805–10), ca. 1832
    Gilt copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 7 in. (17.78 cm)
    Scher Collection; Promised gift to The Frick Collection

    Cat. 110

  • Plaster medal of a man in profile to the right

    Pierre-Jean David d’Angers (1788–1856)
    Jean-Victor Schnetz (1787–1870), dated 1828
    Plaster
    Diam. (with loop): 5 3/16 in. (13.17 cm)
    Diam.: 4 7/8 in. (12.37 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 111

  • Wax portrait of a man in profile to the right

    Pierre-Jean David d’Angers (1788–1856)
    Pierre-René Choudieu (1761–1838), 1832
    Wax on slate
    5 5/8 × 4 15/16 in. (14.25 × 12.56 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 112

  • Bronze medal of man in profile to the right, wearing a shirt with a wide collar

    Jean-Jacques Richard (1792–1865)
    Justin Liberté, dated 18[?]9
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 3 11/16 in. (9.32 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 113

  • Bronze portrait medal of Alphonse Louis David, bearded, wearing a heavy overcoat

    Antoine-Augustin Préault (1809–1879)
    Alphonse Louis David (1798–after 1849), ca. 1838
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 7 3/4 in. (19.69 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 114

  • Bronze portrait medal of Jean Leon Gerome in profile to the right

    Jules-Clément Chaplain (1839–1909)
    Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904), dated 1885
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 4 in. (10.19 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 115

  • Bronze medal depicting an allegory of painting represented as a nude woman, laureate and seated on a bench in front of an easel, with a paintbrush in her right hand and a palette in her left and city in the background

    Jules-Clément Chaplain (1839–1909)
    Personification of Painting, 1885
    Copper alloy, cast
    Diam.: 4 in. (10.11 cm)
    The Frick Collection; Gift of Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher, 2016

    Cat. 116

  • Gilded medal of a woman in profile to the left with her hair pinned under a hat decorated with feathers, wearing a ribbon around her neck

    Jules-Clément Chaplain (1839–1909)
    Sarah Gustave Simon (dates unknown), dated 1889
    Gilt galvanotype
    Diam.: 4 13/16 in. (12.19 cm)
    Scher Collection

    Cat. 117

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