Conquest of Istria, 1806
Medium
Gilt bronze, struck
Dimensions
Diameter: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm)
Classification
Medals and Plaquettes
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Hon. Levi P. Morton, 1885
Accession Number
85.2.87
Art Historical Context
This gilt bronze medal, struck at the Paris Mint in the early nineteenth century, commemorates Napoleon’s 1806 conquest of Istria during the Napoleonic Wars. Measuring just over an inch and a half in diameter, the small, portable object served as both a commemorative keepsake and a piece of official propaganda, celebrating French military expansion across the Adriatic. Its gilt surface would have gleamed like gold, lending an air of prestige to an event the regime wished to immortalize. The medal reflects the collaborative artistry of the period. Bertrand Andrieu and Nicholas Guy Antoine Bren...
About the Artist
Bertrand Andrieu|Nicholas Guy Antoine Brenet|baron Dominique Vivant Denon|Paris Mint · 1761–1822
French, Bordeaux 1761–1822 Paris