Margaretha van Parma en Ottavio Farnese van Parma 1559

This is a cast medal, a portrait of Margaretha van Parma and Ottavio Farnese van Parma, made by an anonymous artist. The medal is made from cast lead, and has two sides - the conjoined portraits of Margaretha and Ottavio. It is a masterful work of casting and chasing, a skilled tradition often seen as lesser, when compared to sculpture. The mold was likely made from a master model, capturing the contours and features of the sitters. The lead-based alloy would have been heated to a molten state, poured into the mold, and allowed to cool. The rough casting would then have been refined by a highly skilled artisan, with careful chasing to sharpen the details. The choice of lead is not accidental. The metal is easily cast and has a satisfying weight in the hand, but it is also base and dull. Here, the material is ennobled, and elevated, by being used for high art. The piece serves as a reminder that craft skills have always been essential to the production of art and design, challenging the rigid boundaries between these fields.