The exhibition focuses on the medal as an art object. The Kunstkammer and the Coin Cabinet provide the setting for this. Medals are above all collector’s items. They convey political messages or serve as awards for special achievements. Medals also commemorate a person or a special occasion, such as a marriage or an accession to the throne.

Medals were also produced at the courts of the Habsburg family over the centuries. The exhibition shows portraits of important family members from 1500 to the end of the monarchy in 1918 and takes visitors to the courts in Madrid, Prague, Vienna and Innsbruck. Many medallists were active there. Employment as a court artist brings many advantages and a high reputation. It is therefore highly coveted.

70 medals from 400 years are juxtaposed with works of sculpture and painting. The Prunk & Prägung exhibition follows artists who often work in several art forms. They produce medals, but are also architects, painters, sculptors or goldsmiths. The exhibition shows medals together with other works by the same artists. Their working methods changed over the centuries: In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, artists produced sculptures, paintings and similar works in addition to medals. In later times, they specialized entirely in medals.