828

BELGIUM: AE medal (75.87g), 1921

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - Europe Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:75.00 - 100.00 USD
BELGIUM: AE medal (75.87g), 1921
SPENDING LIMITS - If you need a higher spending limit please email us at payments@stevealbum.com

BUYER'S PREMIUM - The Buyer's Premium is $20 per lot or 20% of the hammer price, whichever amount is greater.
BELGIUM: AE medal (75.87g), 1921, 60mm bronze medal by Frans Vermeylen for the American Restoration of the Library of the Catholic University of Leuven; Features an American Eagle with its wings outstretched, perched atop a shield and two smaller circular medallions with American and Belgian National Arns, the central shield depicts a seated figure, representing Wisdom or the Virgin Mary as the university's patroness, Latin inscription around the bottom reads: "HUMANITAS AMERICAE MCMXXI RESTITUIT", translating to "The humanity of America restored 1921" // highly detailed perspective view of the Library's interior, featuring its distinctive Gothic arches, timber-beamed ceiling, and a staircase on the left, Latin text in the exergue at the bottom mentions: "BIBLIOTHECAM UNIVERSITATIS LOVANIENSIS A MCMXIV FERITATE GERMANICI EXERCITUS COMBUS-TAM", which notes the library's burning by the German army in 1914. On August 25, 1914, the Library of the Catholic University of Leuven was intentionally burned to the ground by German forces during World War I, destroying approximately 300,000 books and 1,000 irreplaceable medieval manuscripts and valuable Renaissance texts. This cultural catastrophe, housed in the 14th-century Cloth Hall, sparked international outrage and prompted post-war reconstruction. Due to the severe losses, a new, massive library building in neo-Flemish Renaissance style was built between 1921 and 1928, largely funded by American donors and the Belgian Relief Fund led by Herbert Hoover. Though the library was largely rebuilt, the 1914 tragedy is commemorated as one of the most significant losses of cultural heritage in modern history. The medal was designed by the Belgian sculptor Frans Vermeylen.