Prijspenning van de Hollandsche Maatschappij van Wetenschappen te Haarlem 1752 1752

Editor: Here we have the "Prijspenning van de Hollandsche Maatschappij van Wetenschappen te Haarlem 1752," a medal created in 1752 by Johan George Holtzhey, currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. There is something solemn about this, the figures so stoic and… neoclassical? What do you make of it? Curator: Oh, absolutely neoclassical! And more than that, deeply allegorical. This isn’t just a pretty picture on a coin, it’s a visual manifesto of Enlightenment ideals. I see two sides, each buzzing with symbolism. The standing woman reminds me of Roman virtue. Note how one side is bathed in imagery tied to Holland, perhaps, even knowledge, while the other is a paean "To God and Country.” Don't you find it striking how it reduces something grand down to portable, almost intimate size? It makes these powerful ideas tangible, like you could hold the Enlightenment itself in your palm. What feelings arise when you imagine it held close, a treasure? Editor: It’s a clever point – pocket-sized philosophy! I guess seeing it behind glass I lose that connection to how someone might have actually experienced it. Curator: Exactly! It's not about the gold value; it’s about the values it represents. Think of it almost like a proto-passport. How different that is from today when every declaration risks getting shouted down? Editor: I hadn’t considered the connection to that sense of belonging… This makes me look at it with a whole new understanding. It has evolved, over time, in what it communicates to a contemporary audience. Curator: Yes and to me, it poses a tantalizing riddle of power. It is worth more to *have* something to declare, than simply *to declare* something.