Ontzet van Dresden, penning ter ere van van Frans I, Duits keizer, en Maria Theresia 1759

This silver medal, commemorating the liberation of Dresden, was crafted by Anton Franz Widemann. Observe how Widemann invokes classical imagery. On the reverse, the figures represent virtues or allegorical concepts. The standing female figures clasping hands, one with a crown and the other with a spear, embody royalty and freedom. Beside them, a figure sits slumped with a shield in hand, embodying defeat. These motifs echo through history. Consider how the image of clasped hands as a symbol of unity and agreement stretches back to antiquity and reappears in funerary art. This gesture, laden with social and emotional significance, taps into our collective memory, resonating as a fundamental aspect of human connection. These motifs resurface through history, charged with new meaning, yet still tethered to the primal emotions they once evoked.