Medals in Memory of the Coronation of Emperor Paul I on April 5, 1797/ Медали "В память коронования Императора Павла I", 5 апреля 1797

Gold medals.

St. Petersburg Mint, 1797.
Medalist V. Baranov (original by K. Leberecht)

Collection of Moscow Kremlin Museums.

At obverse there is a portrait of Paul I in a wig wearing a military uniform, with the cross of the Order of St. Anne on his neck and the ribbon of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called over his right shoulder. The reverse side depicts a wide, equilateral Greek cross on a smooth background. At the end of the XVIII century Karl Leberecht became the main medalist of the Petersburg Mint. Carrying out the most important orders he strives for the utmost conciseness of compositions. The coronation medal of Paul I demonstrates just such an approach in medal art: the reverse side of the medal indicates a departure from the traditional solution - it does not contain any allegorical figures, no inscriptions expressing the main ideas and declarations of the new government, there is not even the date of the coronation. One gets the feeling that, in contrast to the coronation medals of previous eras, especially of his mother Catherine II, the enthroned Paul sparingly and ascetically through the image of the cross proclaims the arrival of a new ruler - the head of the Church, a monarch with a high religious mission.​

 

Medal in gold from the collection of State Museum "Pavlovsk". Engraved by Empress consort of Russia as the second wife of Emperor Paul I Maria Feodorovna. Simply amazing level of engraving skills.

Maria Feodorovna /Мария Фёдоровна; 25 October 1759 – 5 November 1828) was skilled at architecture, watercolor; engraving; designing objects of ivory and amber; and horticulture. The teacher for the empress in medal art was Karl Alexandrovich Leberecht, an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and the chief medalist of the Moscow Mint. Maria Fedorovna turned out to be one of the Leberecht's most capable students.

Under his supervision, the Grand Duchess made a medal in 1793, which she presented to Catherine II on her birthday. On the front side of the medal in the upper part, Maria Feodorovna placed the imperial crown, under it is the monogram of Catherine II. All this was placed in a wreath of laurel and palm branches. Palm branches were depicted as a symbol of longevity and peace, while laurel branches were depicted as a symbol of glory and victory. On the reverse side, the medallion depicted a snake biting its own tail, a symbol of eternity. An inscription was made on top in a semicircle: "Like the name is life." Here, between the clouds, the zodiac sign Aries was depicted (the sign corresponding to the birthday of Catherine II, namely April 21).The Roman numerals XXXI on the medal corresponded to the number of years of the reign of the empress. At the bottom, in the trim, an inscription was made: “Maria. Engr.(aved) 1793/Мария. Выр.(езала) 1793 г".

Catherine II liked the gift of her daughter-in-law, in the same year she wrote: “It is difficult, my dear daughter, to engrave medals better than you. In this way - what good - will beat off the bread from the employees of the mint. The Empress handed over the medal of the Grand Duchess to the Hermitage collection. The collection of the Münzkabinet of the Hermitage also contains the stamps of the obverse and reverse of this medal.

In 1797, Maria Feodorovna engraved the coronation medal of Emperor Paul I; two original stamps of this medal are kept in the collection of the St. Petersburg Mint. In the "Description of Russian medals", compiled in 1908, it is written: "The image of Emperor Paul I was carved by Empress Maria Feodorovna, who studied medal art under the guidance of Karl Leberecht." Under the portrait there is an inscription: “Maria. R. 1797/Марiя. р. 1797 г.".​

 

Silver medal.

Size 38.9 mm.
Weight 19.46 g.

Made by St. Petersburg Mint. Medalist. K.I. Meisner (signed CMF).

 

Silver jeton.

Size 20 mm.
Weight 2.4 g.
Made by St. Petersburg Mint.

Collection of Moscow Kremlin Museums.