Vertrek van Karel III uit Wenen om bezit te nemen van de Spaanse troon 1703

This medal, made by Philipp Heinrich Müller around the turn of the 18th century, commemorates Charles III of Spain’s departure from Vienna to take possession of the Spanish throne. It’s made of silver, a precious material then as now, but more than that, it's a statement about value. Consider how this small object was made. The silver had to be mined and refined, a labour-intensive process often involving exploited populations. Then, a skilled medallist would have used punches and dies to strike the image into the metal. This process, while more mechanised than hand-sculpting, still required considerable expertise, and the dies themselves would have been painstakingly engraved. The resulting object embodies power; it translates political might into a tangible form. The weight of the metal, the crispness of the image, all speak to the authority of the monarchy. So next time you encounter a medal, remember that it is not just a commemoration, it is a material expression of social and political forces.