Queen Victoria's Visit to the Corporation of London 1837

This silver medal depicting Queen Victoria was made by William Wyon, a celebrated die engraver for the British Royal Mint in the mid-19th century. Medals like this were often commissioned to commemorate important royal events. The profile of the young Queen is based on formal conventions of Neoclassical sculpture, a style that had been favored by European royalty since the late 18th century. By alluding to the visual codes of ancient Greece and Rome, Victoria and other monarchs were able to visually align themselves with an older tradition of imperial power. The medal also points to the complex relationship between the monarchy and the Corporation of London, a body that represents the business and financial interests of the City. To learn more about the Corporation’s history, we can consult its official archives. Historians of art and culture study these images alongside textual records in order to better understand how power is represented and maintained.