Portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Executed for the Grolier Club, New York, 1892 1892

This 1892 bronze medal by Jean-Désiré Ringel d'Illzach, part of the Grolier Club's series of medallions depicting notable authors, portrays American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. The circular relief features a bust portrait of Hawthorne, accompanied by a small house representing his birthplace and a tombstone symbolizing his death. The inscription includes his birth and death dates, further emphasizing the medal's commemorative function. It is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY. This artwork is a significant example of 19th-century American medallic art and offers insight into the artistic appreciation of literary figures during this period.