A uniface medal of the Ancient Greek and Egyptian Monuments of the Louvre 18th century

Editor: Here we have an 18th-century uniface medal made of bronze, “A uniface medal of the Ancient Greek and Egyptian Monuments of the Louvre,” by Alexis Joseph Depaulis. The artistry seems intricate, and almost theatrical, juxtaposing these ancient monuments. What do you make of it? Curator: What immediately strikes me is the choice of bronze. Why bronze for something celebrating monuments, which themselves would have been made of various stones? Bronze, through the process of its creation – mining, smelting, casting – carries its own economic and social history. This medal, a miniature reproduction, is entering a system of circulation, becoming a commodity itself. What’s being valued and preserved here – the ancient cultures or the cultural capital of possessing them? Editor: That’s interesting. It shifts the perspective. I was focusing on the imagery, on the way it combines Greek and Egyptian motifs. Curator: Exactly. And what about the labor involved in the medal's creation? The meticulous detail, the skill of the artisan Depaulis, is something to think about, especially as it attempts to reflect even older artifacts. This medal isn’t simply a visual representation; it embodies a specific mode of production, reflecting 18th-century values related to craft and artistic labor. The inscription "COLLECTIS EX AEGYPTO GRAECIAQ MONVMENTIS" only tells half the story; the process of material extraction and transformation does the other half. Editor: So it is kind of an extraction, not just of the ancient artwork's image, but raw material for making and selling. That's heavy. Curator: Indeed. And this changes the whole conversation. Where we might be tempted to admire aesthetics and craftsmanship, the material analysis reminds us of power dynamics. Editor: It’s like peeling back the layers of not just time but also economies. Thanks. Curator: My pleasure. I will never look at a bronze sculpture the same way.