Instelling van het IJzeren Kruis, ter ere van Leopold I, koning der Belgen 1834

Curator: Examining this relief in bronze by M. Borrel from 1834, titled "Establishment of the Iron Cross, in honor of Leopold I, King of the Belgians," I’m immediately struck by the circular composition. It's contained and, perhaps, self-referential. Editor: It feels distinctly melancholic to me. The bronze has a muted quality and even though this is meant to commemorate an establishment, a royal honor no less, there's an inescapable somber tone. Curator: Absolutely. Knowing the context enriches that reading. Leopold I took the throne of a newly independent Belgium in 1831 after a period of upheaval and revolution. This medal marks that fraught establishment of a nation and a monarchy, and Borrel crafted this four years after the start of Leopold's reign. Editor: From a formalist viewpoint, note the portrait's profile view, echoing classical Roman coin design. Also, observe the use of both inscription and image to define the entire surface of the round space. Semiotic interplay is also central here. The Iron Cross symbol merges historical reference and power into one concise visual form. Curator: And the Iron Cross itself became a symbol that could, and still can, carry complicated weight, as this was initially created during the Napoleonic Wars. Context informs everything. It acknowledges military prowess tied to a new national identity. One can then unpack the medal's narrative to highlight its use in solidifying class divisions during the earlier stages of industrial capitalism, no? The monarchy benefits most when recasting war as spectacle and national myth. Editor: Precisely. Borrel is very much working within established, academic-art conventions and portrait styles, even down to the monarch's uniform. The surface design reflects the time's aesthetic embrace of heroism and power, though maybe to a restrained level. It lacks grandiosity. Curator: True, and this gets us back to the initial impression of solemnity and perhaps a recognition, or warning even, of what maintaining power might cost a new king in those days. There is much more to the creation of a cross, image and medal. Editor: It seems that even under simplistic structure, material and arrangement this little piece remains multi-layered.