Johann Friedrich I, Duke of Saxony thumbnail 1
Johann Friedrich I, Duke of Saxony thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Johann Friedrich I, Duke of Saxony

Medal
1535 (made)
Artist/Maker
Reinhart, Hans (The Elder) (maker)
Cranach, Lucas (The Elder) (woodcutter)
Place of origin
Germany (made)

This is a silver medal made by Hans Reinhart (the elder) in Germany, 1535. The medal represents Johann Friedrich I, the Duke of Saxony. The portrait of Johann Friedrich of Saxony is based on the woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder, dated 1533, now in the Landesmuseum Gotha.
Hans Reinhart the Elder (ca. 1500/10 – 1581) was a German goldsmith and medallist worked for the Court of Saxony in Dresden.
Reinhart’s medals, mainly produced between 1535 and 1545, were marked with his initials hr.
It is worth mentioning that he cast his medals from wooden models and not, as was usual in goldsmith work from stone models.
His work as medallist is not extensive, Habich lists fewer than 50 medals.



Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Coins & Medals
Royalty
Portraits
SCRAN
Object type
Medal
TitleJohann Friedrich I, Duke of Saxony (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Silver
Silver
Brief description
Medal, silver, bust of Johann Friedrich I Duke of Saxony, by Hans Reinhart the Elder, Germany (Leipzig), dated 1535
Physical description
Suspension ring.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 6.4cm
  • Weight: 66.6g
Object history
Provenance: Tross. 140 medals and reliefs were purchased from M. Henri Tross of Paris for £500 by J.C. Robinson for the Museum in 1867.
Summary
This is a silver medal made by Hans Reinhart (the elder) in Germany, 1535. The medal represents Johann Friedrich I, the Duke of Saxony. The portrait of Johann Friedrich of Saxony is based on the woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder, dated 1533, now in the Landesmuseum Gotha.
Hans Reinhart the Elder (ca. 1500/10 – 1581) was a German goldsmith and medallist worked for the Court of Saxony in Dresden.
Reinhart’s medals, mainly produced between 1535 and 1545, were marked with his initials hr.
It is worth mentioning that he cast his medals from wooden models and not, as was usual in goldsmith work from stone models.
His work as medallist is not extensive, Habich lists fewer than 50 medals.

Bibliographic references
  • Trusted, Marjorie. German Renaissance Medals: a Catalogue of the Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1990, p. 90
  • Scher, Stephen K, The Currency of fame: portrait medals of the Renaissance, New York, National Gallery of Art (U.S.), Frick Collection., 1994 pp.285-287
  • Chipps Smith, Jeffrey, 'Hans Reinhart: Religion and Politics in Saxony, c.1535-45', The Medal, 56, Spring 2010, pp. 26-36, (ill. p. 27 fig. 4)
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1867. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 15
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
76-1867

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Record createdMarch 2, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O94276/johann-friedrich-i-duke-of-medal-reinhart-hans-the/
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