Justice and Piety at an Altar [reverse] 1601

This bronze medal was made by Nicolas-Gabriel Jacquet in the early 17th century. The cool thing about medals is that they are both miniature sculptures and documents of their time. This one is made of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Bronze is strong, casts well, and has a warm color – all good qualities for a medal intended to last. To create this relief, Jacquet would have first carved his design in wax or clay, then cast it using the lost-wax method, a skilled tradition dating back to antiquity. The image shows Justice and Piety flanking an altar; this iconography, combined with the inscription, suggests the values which the owner of the medal espoused. Medals like these were luxury objects, and were collected and traded by elites, so the medal is itself is a form of currency, and the allegory of Justice and Piety a statement of power.