Overlijden van Cornelia Bierens 1792

This is ‘Overlijden van Cornelia Bierens,’ a lead medal made by Johan George Holtzhey, a Dutch medalist, sometime before 1808. This memento mori is replete with imagery. The front features a portrait of Cornelia Bierens in profile, while the back lists her date of death and is decorated with a radiant sun, urn, and other symbols of mourning. In the Netherlands of the late 1700s, death was a public event with strong social and religious rituals. It was commemorated not only in church sermons, but through printed poems and medals like this one. These objects, made for members of the Dutch elite, were part of an elaborate dance around the subject of death. By producing and preserving these medals, Dutch citizens were able to reflect on mortality and morality. As art historians, we can study these pieces as part of the larger cultural history of the Netherlands, researching the religious and political attitudes of the time and the social rituals around death.