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The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance

January 23 – May 1, 1994
West Building, West Garden Court

Costanzo da Ferrara, Mehmed II, 1430-1481, Sultan of the Turks 1451 [obverse], c. 1481, bronze, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.695.a

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: This exhibition of 212 portrait medals from c. 1400 to 1600 was selected from collections of the National Gallery and other institutions in the United States and Europe. The medals originated in the leading Renaissance centers of production in Italy, France, Germany, England, and The Netherlands.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery and the Frick Collection, New York. Guest curator was Stephen K. Scher, art historian. Donald Myers, Andrew W. Mellon assistant curator of sculpture at the National Gallery, was the coordinating curator.

Sponsor: The exhibition was supported by the Federal Republic of Germany. An indemnity was granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 137,090

Catalog: The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance, edited by Stephen K. Scher. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Frick Collection, 1994.

Other Venues: Frick Collection, New York, May 24–August 22, 1994
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, September 1–December 1, 1994
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg