Filips II en Anna-Maria, koning en koningin van Spanje, rekenpenning van de rekenkamer van Vlaanderen te Rijssel 1571

This is an anonymous coin portraying Filips II and Anna-Maria, King and Queen of Spain. The first aspect that strikes us is the sheer density of detail packed into such a small circular space. The profiles of the King and Queen, though worn, still suggest a certain regal composure. Their placement, closely aligned, speaks to a union of power and authority, a visual rhetoric amplified by the surrounding inscription. Turn the coin, and we encounter a heraldic shield, meticulously divided. Each quadrant is a signifier, a coded representation of lineage and dominion, crowned by an emblem of sovereignty. The very material of the coin, its texture and colour, is not incidental. This object, this coin, with its signs and symbols, is a potent expression of the metaphysics of power. It is a tactile claim to authority, inviting us to think about how such symbolic forms shape our understanding of governance and order.