Oprichting van een standbeeld voor de kunstschilder Ary Scheffer te Dordrecht 1862

This medal was made by Johan Philip van der Kellen to commemorate the erection of a statue of the painter Ary Scheffer in Dordrecht. The medal is interesting because it reflects a time when public statues were seen as a way to honor important figures and promote certain values. The imagery on the medal is highly conventional. On one side we see the stern profile of Scheffer himself, and on the other we see a representation of the statue that was erected in his honor. The statue and, by extension, the medal, served to solidify Scheffer's place in the cultural history of the Netherlands, but it also hints at the cultural function of Dordrecht itself, the city of Scheffer's birth. As historians, we might ask: what criteria were used to determine who was worthy of such an honor? What role did Scheffer's art play in shaping Dutch identity? To answer these questions, we might consult archives, newspaper articles, and other primary sources. Ultimately, this medal reminds us that art is always embedded in a specific social and institutional context.