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Not currently on display at the V&A

Simon von Zedwitz

Medal
1533 (made)
Artist/Maker
Gebel, Matthes (maker)
Place of origin
Germany (made)

This is a bronze medal made by Matthes Gebel in Germany, dated 1533. The medal has only an obverse which represents Simon von Zedwitz (b. 1486/6) facing right, bare-headed and bearded.
Gebel (ca. 1500-1574) who lived in Nuremberg was considered the most important medallist of his time. Also today he is considered as the most prolific medallist in Nuremberg of the Renaissance period. Habich ascribes 350 medals to him. They are almost all two-sided and thinly cast in silver, lead or bronze. He was friend of Albrecht Duerer and struck a famous medal of him in 1527. It shows Duerer with short hair. This medal portrait should become the definite portrait of Duerer in an advanced age for future generations.


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Coins & Medals
Portraits
SCRAN
Object type
Medal
TitleSimon von Zedwitz (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Brass
Brass
Brief description
Medal, brass, bust of Simon von Zedwitz, by Matthes Gebel, Germany, dated 1533
Physical description
Copper 86.7%, zinc 10%, tin 0.7%. Nickel also present.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 3.8cm
  • Weight: 21g
Marks and inscriptions
'SIMON . VON . ZEDWITZ . SEINS ALTERS . XLVIII . IAR . ANNO . ZC . XXXIII' (German and Latin; Obverse (only))
Translation
Simon von Zedwitz at the age of 48, in the year 1533
Object history
Bought in 1866 for £1 13s at the Rev. Dr. Wellesley Sale, Sotheby's, London, June 1st, 1866.
Subjects depicted
Bust
Zedwitz, Simon Von
Summary
This is a bronze medal made by Matthes Gebel in Germany, dated 1533. The medal has only an obverse which represents Simon von Zedwitz (b. 1486/6) facing right, bare-headed and bearded.
Gebel (ca. 1500-1574) who lived in Nuremberg was considered the most important medallist of his time. Also today he is considered as the most prolific medallist in Nuremberg of the Renaissance period. Habich ascribes 350 medals to him. They are almost all two-sided and thinly cast in silver, lead or bronze. He was friend of Albrecht Duerer and struck a famous medal of him in 1527. It shows Duerer with short hair. This medal portrait should become the definite portrait of Duerer in an advanced age for future generations.
Bibliographic references
  • Trusted, Marjorie. German Renaissance Medals. Victoria & Albert Museum, 1990, p. 48
  • Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1866. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 20
  • Habich, Georg. ed. Die deutschen Schaumünzen des XVI. Jahrhunderts herausgegeben mit Unterstützung der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Notgemeinschaft der deutschen Wissenschaft Auftrag des Deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft. München: Bruckmann, 1929-1934, I, II, p. 156, no. 1091, pl. CXXIX, 5
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
206-1866

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Record createdFebruary 26, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O94001/simon-von-zedwitz-medal-gebel-matthes/
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