Lodewijk XIV verovert veertig steden in tweeentwintig dagen 1699 - 1722

This is a bronze medal created by Jean Mauger, celebrating Louis XIV's conquest of forty cities in twenty-two days. The imagery on this medal draws heavily from classical antiquity. Louis XIV is depicted as a triumphant Roman emperor. The reverse shows a figure riding a quadriga, a four-horse chariot, a symbol of victory and imperial power since ancient Greece. We can see it in Roman triumphal arches, a motif later revived in Renaissance and Baroque art to glorify rulers and generals. The quadriga taps into a deep-seated desire for glory and power, evoking both admiration and perhaps subconscious anxieties about authoritarianism. This medal illustrates how symbols are never fixed; they constantly resurface and evolve across centuries, carrying echoes of their past while acquiring new layers of meaning.