Medallion (architecture): Difference between revisions

Not to be confused with Modillion or medaillon.

A medallion is a round or oval ornament (typically made of bronze but also made of stucco) that contains a sculptural or pictorial decoration on a façade, an interior, a monument, or a piece of furniture or equipment.

In the United Kingdom in the 19th century, this was a popular form of decoration in neoclassical architecture. The frame and portrait were carved as one, in marble for interiors, and in stone for exterior walls.

It is also the name of a scene that is inset into a larger stained glass window.

Gallery

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  Roman relief of Jupiter, part of a series of twelve gods in medallions, c.300-310 AD
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  Gothic relief on the Monastery of Saint Mary of Guadalupe, Spain, unknown architect, unknown date
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  Renaissance oculus on the west facade of the Cour Carrée of the Louvre Palace, with figures of war and peace, sculpted by Jean Goujon and designed by Pierre Lescot, 1548
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  Renaissance medallion with marble plaques on the north facade of the Cour Carrée of the Louvre Palace, designed by Pierre Lescot, 16th century
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  Wisdom casting out Calumny, Baroque painting by Noël Coypel, c.1656-1666, Palais du Parlement de Bretagne, Rennes, France
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  Baroque sculpture of cherubs holding a medallion with Louis XIV's monogram, unknown sculptor, late 17th-very early 18th century, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France
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  Rococo medallion in the lunette of the door of the Hôtel de Salm-Dyck, Paris, unknown architect, 1722
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  Louis XVI medallion with garlands on a Rococo panel, Abbaye de Sturzelbronn, Sturzelbronn, France, unknown sculptor, mid-18th century
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  Louis XVI style medallion with a portrait relief on a vase with cover, by the Sèvres porcelain factory, c.1778, soft-paste porcelain, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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  Neoclassical medallions on the handle of the Londonderry Vase, made by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, designed by Charles Percier, decoration designed by Alexandre-Theodore Brogniart, flowers and ornament painted by Gilbert Drouet, and birds painted by Christophe-Ferdinand Caron, 1813, hard-paste porcelain, polychrome enamels, gilding, and gilt bronze mounts, Art Institute of Chicago, US
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  Neoclassical medallion on the Grave of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, by David d'Angers, 1844
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  Renaissance Revival medallion on Cafeneaua Veche, Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect, early 19th century
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  Beaux Arts polychrome medallions on the facade of a building in Montpellier, France, unknown ceramist, mid or late 19th century
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  Medallion on a Neoclassical stove in the principals' house of the Central Girls' School, Bucharest, unknown designer, 1890
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  Romanian Revival medallion on the Grave of Georgiev Brothers, Bellu Cemetery, Bucharest, by Ion Mincu, c.1900
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  Rococo Revival polychrome medallion on the facade of Beckershoffstraße no. 7, Mettmann, Germany, unknown architect, 1902
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  Neo-Louis XVI style medallion above a door in Strada Arthur Verona no. 15, Bucharest, unknown architect, c.1910
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  Neo-Louis XVI style medallion on a stair railing of the Nicolae T. Filitti/Nae Filitis House (Calea Dorobanților no. 18), Bucharest, by Ernest Doneaud, c.1910

See also

• Floor medallion
• Tondo (art): round (circular)
• Cartouche (design): oval