The Medals of Wolf and Nickel Milicz in the Age of the Reformation

Explores silver medals by Wolf and Nickel Milicz, revealing artistry, diplomacy and symbolism amid 16th-century religious and political conflict.

Explores silver medals by Wolf and Nickel Milicz, revealing artistry, diplomacy and symbolism amid 16th-century religious and political conflict. In the turbulent years before the Schmalkaldic War of 1546–47 – fought between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and his allies – the Bohemian town of Joachimsthal (now Jáchymov in the western part of the Czech Republic) was a major center for the production of coinage and medals. Medals made from the ore in the rich silver mines of Joachimsthal were exported throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Among the town’s most skilled medalists were Wolf Milicz and his son Nickel. Maximilian Kummer explores how the medals by Wolf and Nickel Milicz reflect the era’s religious and political tensions, offering a fascinating glimpse into the intersection of power, faith and artist expression. This is the inaugural book published in conjunction with the Stephn K. and Janie Woo Scher Fellowship at The Frick Collection, for outstanding candidates pursuing research in the field of medals dating from around the year 1400 to 1900.