Overlijden van Willem I Frederik, gedurende vijfentwintig jaar koning der Nederlanden 1843

This is a commemorative silver medal depicting the death of William I Frederick, King of the Netherlands for twenty-five years, created by Moses de Vries. Consider the function of this piece, a medal produced to memorialize a monarch. How does it create meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations? On one side we see a profile of the King. On the other, a mourning woman, a lion, and a tomb – all traditional symbols used in Western art to represent loss. This medal would have been commissioned by someone close to the royal family, and would likely have been distributed amongst the aristocracy of the Netherlands. The historian’s role is to look at the way rulers such as William I Frederick are remembered and memorialized. Medals and other commemorative items serve as primary sources. They reveal the tastes and values of a particular society, and tell us something about how that society saw itself.