DOI article:
Taradaj, Paulina: Quo non augustior alter: a few remarks on the series of small medals issued to commemorate the maneuvers of the Saxon armies at Mühlberg in 1730
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49247#0198
PAULINA TARADAJ
.1.94
We know of a number of medals commemorating this event. We can provisionally
divide them into three categories:17
— The first in the hierarchy was undoubtedly the medal executed by the Dresden
court medalist Heinrich Paul Groskurt (1675-1751). We can see on the obverse
Augustus Il’s favorite image of himself in medallic art,18 already on this medal
shown in his so-called timeless youth, for the first time this image of him
appeared on a medal was in 1707.19 The numerous medals that exist with this
idealized portrait appear in three standards: 44, 65 and 80 mm in diameter. In
order to strike these medals commemorating the maneuvers at Mühlberg, it
was - of course! - the largest die possible that was made use of.
The reverse of this medal shows, in turn, a bird’s eye view of the military camp
and the units stationed in it; over the camp, a winged Fama rises, holding in
her hands the Polish-Saxon coat of arms. This image is accompanied by an
inscription in the exergue: otia martis / mdccxxx. / mens, [is] iun. [ii]. (Leisure
from War, 1730, in the month of June}. A banner with this motto (i.e. Otia
Martis} decorated the monumental pavilion made of wood that Augustus II
used as his main quarters.20
— The second medal was created by Georg Wilhelm Vestner (1677-1740),
of Nuremberg.21 Here, the main pictorial motif on the reverse is a rider on
a rearing horse; in all’antica garb, he has a helmet with a plume on his head
and a commander’s staff in his hand. The rider is accompanied by three
men on horseback and in Polish dress. The surrounding inscription reads:
martis saxonici spectacula bellica Bella (The Mars of Saxony ’s Beautiful
Military Demonstrations}. Above all, three elements call our attention in this
iconography: the appellation the Mars of Saxony (this was John George III
Wettin’s appellation), the rider in ancient costume, and the riders in Polish attire.
It seems that what they have in common is the Battle of Vienna. A reference
to this huge victory, which was incredibly important for both of the states that
Augustus II was in charge of, was supposed to be, of course, from a propaganda
17 We can find a similar juxtaposition in: CONRADI 1797: 72-74. The subject of the present article, however,
goes far beyond the argument made by Conradi.
18 HEIDEMANN 2006: 162, no. 58; sec also: STAHR 2008: 133.
19 This medal commemorated the granting of construction bonuses and tax breaks for the reconstruction of
Dresden. Sec: SOMMER 2007: 313, KFS 1707; ARNOLD 1985a: 44-45; ARNOLD 1985b: 53.
20 See: LEYSER 1791:444, no. 1155; cf. CONRADI 1797: 72. We can also find an interesting description
of the pavilion in Józef Ignacy Kraszewski’s novel Hrabina Cosel', see: KRASZEWSKI 1988: 271; sec also:
ANONYM 1756: 403.
21 BERNHEIMER 1984: 164, no. 269.
.1.94
We know of a number of medals commemorating this event. We can provisionally
divide them into three categories:17
— The first in the hierarchy was undoubtedly the medal executed by the Dresden
court medalist Heinrich Paul Groskurt (1675-1751). We can see on the obverse
Augustus Il’s favorite image of himself in medallic art,18 already on this medal
shown in his so-called timeless youth, for the first time this image of him
appeared on a medal was in 1707.19 The numerous medals that exist with this
idealized portrait appear in three standards: 44, 65 and 80 mm in diameter. In
order to strike these medals commemorating the maneuvers at Mühlberg, it
was - of course! - the largest die possible that was made use of.
The reverse of this medal shows, in turn, a bird’s eye view of the military camp
and the units stationed in it; over the camp, a winged Fama rises, holding in
her hands the Polish-Saxon coat of arms. This image is accompanied by an
inscription in the exergue: otia martis / mdccxxx. / mens, [is] iun. [ii]. (Leisure
from War, 1730, in the month of June}. A banner with this motto (i.e. Otia
Martis} decorated the monumental pavilion made of wood that Augustus II
used as his main quarters.20
— The second medal was created by Georg Wilhelm Vestner (1677-1740),
of Nuremberg.21 Here, the main pictorial motif on the reverse is a rider on
a rearing horse; in all’antica garb, he has a helmet with a plume on his head
and a commander’s staff in his hand. The rider is accompanied by three
men on horseback and in Polish dress. The surrounding inscription reads:
martis saxonici spectacula bellica Bella (The Mars of Saxony ’s Beautiful
Military Demonstrations}. Above all, three elements call our attention in this
iconography: the appellation the Mars of Saxony (this was John George III
Wettin’s appellation), the rider in ancient costume, and the riders in Polish attire.
It seems that what they have in common is the Battle of Vienna. A reference
to this huge victory, which was incredibly important for both of the states that
Augustus II was in charge of, was supposed to be, of course, from a propaganda
17 We can find a similar juxtaposition in: CONRADI 1797: 72-74. The subject of the present article, however,
goes far beyond the argument made by Conradi.
18 HEIDEMANN 2006: 162, no. 58; sec also: STAHR 2008: 133.
19 This medal commemorated the granting of construction bonuses and tax breaks for the reconstruction of
Dresden. Sec: SOMMER 2007: 313, KFS 1707; ARNOLD 1985a: 44-45; ARNOLD 1985b: 53.
20 See: LEYSER 1791:444, no. 1155; cf. CONRADI 1797: 72. We can also find an interesting description
of the pavilion in Józef Ignacy Kraszewski’s novel Hrabina Cosel', see: KRASZEWSKI 1988: 271; sec also:
ANONYM 1756: 403.
21 BERNHEIMER 1984: 164, no. 269.