Gilt Bronze Medal, Louis XIV

Medal for Louis XIV (1643-1715)
Rome, 1673, by G. Hamerani
Struck
diam. 4,5 cm
Gilded bronze
Superb and rare

Obverse: Louis XIV riding to the left and pointing with his command baton to a city under siege. The king is laureate, wearing armor, a sword at his side, and a cape billowing in the wind.
Inscription: LVD.XIV.D.G.FR.ET.NAV.REX; in exergue, IO.HAMERANVS.FECIT / ROMÆ

Reverse: under the gaze of a veiled female figure (the Virgin (?), Faith (?), Religion (?)) holding a chalice surmounted by a radiant host and seated on a cloud, a male figure (the King ?), armored and helmeted, extends a twisted blade sword and places his foot victoriously on the abdomen of the allegory of Heresy (cf. Cesare Ripa Iconology), accompanied by a lion lying face down at his feet, emblem of the republic of the seven United Provinces of the Netherlands (cf. ill.). In the distance in the sky, five winged demon figures are fleeing. Below 1673.
Inscription: QVIS CONTRA NOS ? (Who is against us?)

Forrer suggests that this medal commemorates the massacre of Huguenots in the Cévennes, but this is highly improbable: the obverse cannot have any connection with the rugged landscape of the Cévennes and the lion on the reverse can only refer to the Netherlands. Especially since the troubles in the Cévennes began only after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, a date incompatible with that of the medal.

In reality, this medal commemorates one of the French victories that occurred at the beginning of the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), probably the capture of Nijmegen in 1672. The episodes of the Dutch wars gave rise to intense royal propaganda realized by the best artists of the time (cf. Mignard, Martin Desjardins).

But it is here that Pope Innocent XI entrusted Giovanni Hamerani, a talented Roman medallist, with the engraving of this work. Born in 1649 into a family of engravers, Giovanni Hamerani was employed in the service of the papacy. According to the pope's wishes, he designed several medals honoring foreign monarchs such as Christine of Sweden or Louis XIV. By creating this medal, Innocent XI salutes the efforts of the French king in favor of Catholicism at a time when the Ottoman threat is increasing and Protestantism continues to spread among the populations. Later, the pope will be less laudatory in the face of the extent of the persecutions and will ask the Sun King to stop these massacres