2020 Essays

Molding Hollow on One Side and in Relief on the Other

Landsman, Rozemarijn; Rowen, Jonah

This essay explains and reconstructs the method of casting medals as described on fols. 83v and 92r. This type of medal, which is cast with a convex relief on the obverse and an exact concave negative of the relief on the reverse, was widespread throughout Europe by the late sixteenth century. Modern scholars frequently refer to these medals as “without reverse,” “hollow cast,” “incuse-reverse cast,” or “uniface.” Little is known about the methods of their production. Ms. Fr. 640 presents at least one entry describing a previously unknown method for casting this type of medal. This essay sheds new light on their facture, and discusses their broader significance within Ms. Fr. 640 and in other contemporary sources.