Huwelijk van Albrecht Friedrich Heinrich, prins van Pruisen met Louisa Marianne, prinses der Nederlanden te 's-Gravenhage 1830

This bronze medal commemorating a royal wedding in The Hague, was made by David van der Kellen in the 19th century. The medal’s creation would have begun with the design itself, which was then translated into a set of dies. These steel forms, made with punches and engraving tools, would have been used to strike the medal, impressing the design into the metal. The medal’s significance is closely tied to the social and political context of royal unions. By choosing to immortalize the event in bronze, a material often associated with commemoration and durability, Van der Kellen elevated the event, giving it a sense of lasting importance. The processes of striking and engraving, while highly skilled, also speak to a mechanization of image production, as multiple medals could be produced from the same dies. So next time you encounter a medal, consider not just its image, but also the traditions of making that it represents, connecting artistry, craft, and social history.