Regina Elisabeta în medalistică
Queen Elisabeth of Romania in the medallic art

Summary/Abstract: In spite of the fact that an ever more intense research into the historical archives entailed great progress, we consider that medals and plaquettes, as well as other iconographie sources bring evidence likely to complete and revive the overall image of Romanian society during a crucial moment of its evolution, to shed light upon, and find the clues to, a series of less clarified aspects of Romanian politics at home and abroad. At the same time the sources mentioned could open fields of research, regarding especially the phychological experiences of the people whose destinies meant being snatched away from their environment, and obliged to start new lives ahead of a young state, situated at the time at Europe's periphery. For an objective spectator, the images and legends of the medals and plaquettes presented on this article, the rhythm of their striking, may provide interesting data on the Romanian political class of that age, and also of all times. This article represents a continuation of our previous work regarding the medallic iconography of King Charles I of Romania. In spite of the fact that, during the second half of the 19th century, the medal got more and more challenged by lithography, and later photography, King Charles I and Queen Eliasbeth, as large shares of Romanian society considered it important. There is evidence that the Queeen herself was actively involved in the process of striking medals and plaquettes, by choosing the artists and representations. Of about 650 types of medals and plaquettes issued between 1866 -1914 the effigy or name and title Princess and later Queen Elisabeth apears on 85 of on about pieces. The medal and plaquette issues bearing the effigy of Elisabeth are extremely unevenly distributed over her long life. Their rhythm and number were generally linked less to the great political events of the time, and more to his private life, or that of the royal family. Until 1891 the number of commemorative medals and plaquettes struck for her was rather small, even i f the years 1877 and 1878 marked a major political event, that is, winning the Independence on the battlefield and its international recognition. Proclaiming the Kingdom, in the spring of 1881 constituted an occasion for a major activity in the medallic art, when were put into circulation types of medals and plaquettes, four of which "popular" medals with handle and a normal one. During the first years of the reign of Charles I the portraits of his wife appeared very rarely on medals. It should be observed that until now no "popular" medals are known for this period.

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