XX History course about Hispanic coinage

This year's course is dedicated to the medal in one of its most particular projects: the devotional medal.  It is a heritage of modest appearance and of long tradition, which emerged in the modern period among the most genuine forms of manifestation and diffusion of Baroque religiosity.  It was valid for a long period of time until the beginning of the last quarter of the 20th century, when it entered into rapid decadence.   Its easy transportation and the character of being an element associated with life and to private devotion,  meant that it spread quickly and all over the world, including the remotest missions, as an efficient means of diffusion of beliefs and devotions. 

Catalonia, like to rest of the Europe of Counter-Reformation, has been a territory rich in these pieces, as a reception point of foreign medals and as a centre of production for use of major centres of pilgrimage, such as, in the most paradigmatic case, the monastery of Montserrat.

The interventions of the course will allow us to approach the phenomenon of their origins until the present day, by taking a look at the actors involved, the techniques and the artistic evolution according to the tastes, the needs and the demands of the society in each moment.  

Course recognised by the Departament d’Ensenyament of the Generalitat de Catalunya as an activity of ongoing training aimed at teachers.

With the collaboration of the  S.E. Catedral Metropolitana de Barcelona

#cursmedalla

PROGRAMME

Coordinator: Albert Estrada-Rius, chief conservator of the Numismatic Cabinet of Catalonia

Wednesday 23rd November, from 4.00 to 7.30pm (Sala Innova)

The medal and its different types: an artistic instrument at the service of propaganda

Javier Gimeno, doctor and Spanish delegate in the FIDEM

Expression and aesthetic adaptation: the medal as a field of creation 

Rossend Casanova, doctor and vice-president of the Catalan Society of Numismatic Studies

Thursday 24th November, from 9.30am to 2.00pm (Sala Innova)

Patrons and promoters: the example of  the monastery of Montserrat

Anna Maria Balaguer, doctora and member of the Catalan Society of Numismatic Studies

The artist and his creation: Eusebi Arnau and the Catalan medal

Isabel Marín, doctor and art historian

The production workshop: The Factory of Medals Ausió of Barcelona

Albert Estrada-Rius, doctor and chief conservator of the Numismatic Cabinet of Catalonia

Thursday 24th November, from 4.00 to 7.30pm (Sala Mercè of the cathedral of Barcelona)

The medal and the devotees: worship and ornament object

Maria Gràcia Salvà, Art historian

Roundtable Conservation and diffusion of a metal heritage

• The transcendent value of a religious heritage, Josep M. Martí Bonet, doctor and director of the Museu Diocesà de Barcelona
• Medals in the net. The collecting of medals, Teresa Aymamí, co-administrator of the study group Cruces y Medallas (Crosses and Medals)
• The collection of devotional medals of the Numismatic Cabinet of Catalonia, Maria Clua, doctor and assistant of conservation of the Numismatic Cabinet of Catalonia

Moderator:  Mr. Robert Baró, canon-conservator of cultural heritage of the Cathedral of Barcelona

Final discussion