Medal Awarded to Poets who Lauded William III’s Conquest of England in 1688 1691

Curator: Oh, this has a certain heft, doesn’t it? A “Medal Awarded to Poets who Lauded William III’s Conquest of England in 1688.” Quite a mouthful! Daniel Drappentier designed it, back in 1691. What’s your first take? Editor: It strikes me as powerfully unsettling, actually. Two profiles, almost Siamese-twin-like, conjoined in ambition and ego. Cold, even. It makes me think of those Roman emperor coins, only… gilded. Curator: Gilded ambition, perhaps? I find these historical medals endlessly fascinating; they were tools of propaganda, pure and simple. A shiny bribe, in this case, for supportive poetry. Editor: Exactly! The very act of immortalizing their triumph in metal—it screams insecurity. That obsessive need to be validated by verse. The poet laureates of the era were effectively mouthpieces. But tell me, the conjoined profile… what does that imply symbolically? Unity? Co-dependence? Curator: I think it signals a joint reign, a shared power, a carefully curated image of harmony between William and Mary. But the choice of rewarding poets… clever. Words shape perceptions, sculpt narratives, influence the collective memory. That was understood even then. It feels very Baroque, wouldn’t you say? Editor: Undeniably. The ornate curls of their wigs, almost obscuring their features, speak volumes about the era’s opulence and excess. All that self-assured swagger. And what about the material itself? Bronze, gold... it amplifies the impact. These metals speak to the wealth of the monarchy. Curator: And Drappentier's skill. He captured them both, and yet managed to convey something deeper than just a physical likeness, though maybe my imagination is working overtime? It’s not just a celebration, it's a statement, a calculated assertion of power made to endure for ages to come. But thinking of it now, I prefer honest failings to such sterile self-promotion, what about you? Editor: Indeed. I come back to that unsettling feeling. Maybe it's the coldness, maybe it's the historical context, or maybe it’s the inherent tension between art and propaganda. Something about this piece makes the gap too palpable. So much manufactured power trying so hard to present itself as noble. Thanks for illuminating it further!