Viglius ab Aytta Zuichemus, voorzitter van de Geheime Raad te Brussel 1561

This is a silver medal of Viglius ab Aytta Zuichemus, chairman of the Privy Council in Brussels, created by Jacques Jonghelinck around 1577. The medal presents two faces each composed with meticulously inscribed text circling the edges. One side features a profile of Viglius, his features rendered with careful detail, conveying both status and personality through form. On the other face, a structure emerges, perhaps emblematic of vigilance or governance, its geometric shapes suggesting stability. Considering these structural elements, the medal operates within a system of signs. The portrait serves as an index, pointing directly to an individual, while the architectural motif may function as a symbol, representing abstract concepts through conventional visual language. The interplay between these signs invites consideration not only of what is represented, but also how meaning is constructed through visual rhetoric. Consider how the artist uses the very structure of the medal to convey power and legacy. The formal precision is not merely decorative; it is integral to the medal's function as a cultural artifact that embodies and communicates complex ideas about authority, identity and representation.