Sir John Vanbrugh, Laudatory Medal

By Benjamin Wyon

My husband gave me this beautiful bronze medal the other day. I’ve added it to the collection of ‘Household Gods’ around my desk, where it makes a nice pairing with a mini-model of the Constatine Arch in Rome.

It was commissioned in 1853 from Benjamin Wyon for the Art-Union of London and struck in 1855. The portrait is a reversed adaptation of Vanbrugh’s Kit-Cat portrait; Blenheim is on the obverse (below).

According to the V&A, it was one of 13 medals (illustrating the history of British Art) issued by the Art Union to encourage metal-die engraving. There are others in the series including medals of Christopher Wren and Inigo Jones.

In further exciting news, I was delighted to hear that my paper for the Vanbrugh symposium, From Stage to Stone, has been accepted, so I’m looking forward to speaking at Downing College, Cambridge, next March.