The medal shows Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) in distinctive profile, having been modeled in 1816 in Weimar according to the wishes of the poet by the Berlin sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow. The occasion was the 66th birthday of the writer and privy councilor. The Antique-like profile of the portrait on the front reflects the Neoclassical style represented by Schadow’s friend Antonio Canova; Pegasus, the horse of the muses, rearing from a cliff on the back, was quoted from a famous Renaissance medal— the Bembo Medal, to be more precise—which Goethe owned at the time. This hint will not have been coincidental, and most likely even stems from this prince of poets, since the humanist Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1470–1547) was also a recognized writer, patron of the arts, and politician. The choice of the motif may also allude to Goethe’s translation of Benvenuto Cellini’s autobiography, since in Goethe’s day, the Bembo Medal was still thought to be a work by the Italian sculptor and goldsmith. This medal, highly treasured by Goethe, was cast in bronze, copper, lead, and iron.
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