Alessandro Farnese, hertog van Parma, rekenpenning van de rekenkamer van Brabant te Brussel 1586

This is a copper accounting token depicting Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma. These tokens were produced in the Chamber of Accounts of Brabant in Brussels. Farnese was a key figure in the 16th-century conflicts between the Spanish Empire and the Dutch Republic. As governor-general of the Netherlands, he skillfully navigated the religious and political landscape, playing a crucial role in maintaining Spanish control over the region. His military campaigns were often brutal, and he was ruthless in his suppression of Protestant rebels. Accounting tokens like this one were not currency, but tools used for calculations on a counting board, similar to an abacus. They circulated among a small group of wealthy merchants or accountants. What does it mean for a portrait of a war criminal to circulate amongst the elites? How do certain images become acceptable while others are erased from memory?