Rusland treedt toe tot het anti-Turkse verbond tussen de Keizer, Polen, en Venetië 1687

This silver medal was made around 1699 by Lazarus Gottlieb Lauffer, and commemorates Russia joining the anti-Turkish alliance between the Holy Roman Emperor, Poland, and Venice. A medal like this would have been made using a variety of techniques. First, the design would have been engraved into steel dies. These dies were then used to strike the medal, imprinting the image onto the silver. Silver's inherent qualities of malleability and durability made it ideal for this purpose, allowing for sharp details that would last. Medals such as this one served as propaganda tools. The material itself, silver, was a precious commodity, conveying wealth and power. The medal embodies a complex intersection of art, politics, and economics. It reminds us that even small objects can carry significant weight, both literally and figuratively, in shaping our understanding of history.