Medalii și decorații din colecția Institutului de Arheologie din Iași (V)

Abstract

The authors present 29 medals with official or commercial character issued by the Kingdom of Romania between 1881 and 1928 in order to commemorate various events like the proclamation of the Kingdom (1881), the jubilee years of 1891 and 1906, Emperor Franz Joseph’s visit to Romania in 1896, the inauguration of some monuments for the heroes of the 1877-1878 Independence War,  commemoration of military manoeuvres or universal exhibitions. All these official or so called “popular medals” were created by famous artists of the era, some – like Carniol or Radivon – being official supplyers of the Romanian royal family. Apart from their artistic value, these medals represent very efficient means of political and ideological propaganda in service of the ruling Hohenzollern
Dinasty. By associating himself with historical figures like Emperor Trajan, Mircea the Elder or Stephen the Great, king Charles I of Romania sought to legitimate his reign, his mission and his accomplishments. Thus, these medals preserve in their engraving important parts of our history from the past centuries.