Vijfentwintigjarige huwelijk van Gerrit Blauw en Maria Agneta van Heyst 1755

This silver medal was designed by Johann Conrad Marmé to commemorate the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary of Gerrit Blauw and Maria Agneta van Heyst. The medal depicts a formally dressed couple clasping hands under a radiant sun. Inscriptions praise God for their union. On the reverse side, allegorical figures flank an inscribed monument which details the virtues of their marriage. The piece seems to celebrate the domestic sphere, and what was deemed a successful bourgeois marriage. But what do the people who are being represented feel and think? The conventions of marriage have historically reinforced gender roles and class structures. As we observe this symbol of enduring partnership, consider the complexities and power dynamics inherent within such unions, and whose stories are often left unacknowledged.