Michel Molinos, hoofd der Quietisten door Innocentius XI tot eeuwigdurende gevangenschap veroordeeld 1687

This is a lead medal, made in the Netherlands in the late 17th century by Jan Smeltzing, commemorating the Catholic priest Miguel Molinos. Molinos was the intellectual leader of the Quietism movement, which was condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church. Smeltzing's medal encapsulates the politics of imagery during the Counter-Reformation. One side depicts Molinos in profile, a visual code of honor, with text naming him as head of the Quietists. The other side shows Molinos in prison, under the judgment of Pope Innocent XI. The medal implies a question: was Molinos a dangerous heretic, or a martyr of conscience? The making of this medal speaks to the religious tensions within the Netherlands at this time, particularly concerning the Catholic Church's institutional power. As historians, we might look to Inquisition records and theological debates to understand Molinos’s fate. What this medal reveals is that the meaning of art is inseparable from its social and institutional context.