Medals of Wolf and Wolf Milicz in Age of the Reformation

Les médailles fabriquées avec de l’argent extrait de la ville bohémienne de Joachimsthal furent exportées dans tout le Saint Empire romain germanique au début du XVIe siècle. Parmi les médailleurs les plus talentueux de la ville figuraient Wolf Milicz et son fils Nickel. Dans ce premier ouvrage de la série des conférences Scher du Frick, Maximilian Kummer explore la manière dont les médailles des Milicz reflètent les tensions religieuses et politiques de l’époque, offrant un aperçu fascinant de l’intersection entre pouvoir, foi et expression artistique. In the turbulent years before the Schmalkaldic War of 1546–47 – fought between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and his allies – the Bohemian town of Joachimsthal (now Jáchymov in the western part of the Czech Republic) was a major center for the production of coinage and medals. (The coins were named Joachimsthaler after the town, shortened to ‘thaler’ or ‘taler’ and from there ‘daler’, eventually becoming ‘dollar’ in the United States.) Medals made from the ore in the rich silver mines of Joachimsthal were exported throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Among the town’s most skilled medalists were Wolf Milicz and his son Nickel. Most of Joachimsthal’s inhabitants were Protestant, but the town’s mint was controlled by both the Schlicks, a noble Lutheran family, and King Ferdinand I of the Catholic Habsburgs, brother of Emperor Charles V. As a result, Wolf and his son created medals for both Protestant and Catholic patrons. The artistry and diplomacy required to navigate the complexities of the rivalling religious forces is particularly striking in the Milicz commemorative medals of Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony. The medals featuring this powerful Protestant leader and fierce opponent of Ferdinand and Charles are rich in symbolism and carefully worded inscriptions. Maximilian Kummer explores how the medals by Wolf and Nickel Milicz reflect the era’s religious and political tensions, offering a fascinating glimpse into the intersection of power, faith and artist expression.