This bronze medal, commemorating the bombardment of Antwerp, was likely made shortly after the event in 1832 by Adrien Hippolyte Veyrat. Minted medals like this one were essentially proto-photographs, a means of recording current events for posterity. The die-stamping process used to make the medal leaves traces of its manufacture. A hardened steel die would have been engraved with the design, then used to impress the image onto a blank metal disc. Look closely, and you can see the crispness of the lines and the way the metal has been forced into shape. The very qualities of the metal itself – its density, its ability to take a sharp impression – speak to the purpose of the object as a permanent record. Interestingly, the medal's imagery also engages the idea of recording. On one side, a figure, possibly Clio, the muse of history, is shown writing on a tablet, with the bombed city as a backdrop. This medal encapsulates an event and reflects on the act of memorializing it.