The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 | Page 7

mention the conditions on
which he will undertake them, and Mr. Jefferson will have the honour
to reply on receipt of them.
February 13, 1789.
Medal for General Morgan, of twenty-four lignes in diameter.
The general, at the head of his army, charges the enemy, which takes to
flight.

Legend: VICTORIA LIBERTATIS VINDEX.
Exergue: FUGATIS CAPTIS AUT CÆSIS AD COWPENS
HOSTIBUS 17 Jan. 1781.
Reverse: America, recognizable by her shield, rests her left hand upon a
trophy of arms and of flags, and with her right crowns the general, who
bends before her.
Legend: DANIELI MORGAN DUCI EXERCITUS.
Exergue: COMITIA AMERICANA.
Medal for Rear-Admiral John Paul Jones, of twenty-four (p. xxi) lignes.
Device: His head (M. Houdon will furnish the bust in plaster).
Legend: JOANNI PAULO JONES CLASSIS PRÆFECTO.
Exergue: COMITIA AMERICANA.
Reverse: Naval Engagement.
Legend: HOSTIUM NAVIBUS CAPTIS AUT FUGATIS.
Exergue: AD ORAM SCOTIÆ 23 SEPT. 1779.
The following, from the same to the same, bearing date February 15,
1789, throws some light on the prices of the medals engraved by M.
Dupré:
To M. DUPRÉ, Engraver of Medals, Paris.
Mr. Jefferson has the honour to observe to M. Dupré that he pays only
twenty-four hundred livres to M. Duvivier or to M. Gatteaux for
medals which measure twenty-four lignes, that he paid the same sum to
M. Dupré himself for that of General Greene, and that recently M.
Dupré asked no higher price for that of General Morgan. Mr. Jefferson
cannot, therefore, consent to give more. For that sum he would expect

to have the best work of M. Dupré and not that of inferior artists. As
regards time, perhaps it may be possible to prolong it somewhat in
regard to the medal for Admiral Paul Jones, that officer being at present
in Europe. Mr. Jefferson will have the honour to await M. Dupré's
answer, and will be happy to conclude this arrangement with him.[9]
February 15, 1789.
[Footnote 9: For the French original see F, page xlv.]
It is to be supposed that Dupré accepted these conditions, since he is
the engraver of the John Paul Jones medal, one of the finest specimens
in our collection. The Daniel Morgan piece is no less remarkable as an
effort of numismatic skill. The fight at the Cowpens, on the reverse, is a
striking example of the boldness with which Dupré enlarged (p. xxii)
the limits of his art, and, in defiance of all traditional rules, successfully
represented several planes in the background.
I cannot do better than to give the opinion, concerning this and the
other of Dupré's American medals, of M. Charles Blanc,[10] from
whom I quote freely in the following:
[Footnote 10: INSTITUT DE FRANCE--ACADÉMIE DES
BEAUX-ARTS Notice sur la vie et les ouvrages d'Augustin Dupré,
Graveur-Général des Monnoies de la République. Lue dans la séance
trimestrielle des cinq classes de l'Institut, le 26 Octobre, 1870, par M.
Charles Blanc.]
The Morgan medal, says this eminent French critic, seems to vibrate
beneath the rush of cavalry and the tread of infantry flying in the
background, indicated by the almost imperceptible lines of the metal
where the smoke of the cannonade is vanishing away in air. In the
Libertas Americana medal, which recalls, if we except the evacuation
of Boston, the two most memorable events of the War of Independence,
namely, the capitulation of General Burgoyne, at Saratoga, in October,
1777, and that of General Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in October,
1781, Dupré has represented the new-born Liberty, sprung from the
prairies without ancestry and without rulers, as a youthful virgin, with

disheveled hair and dauntless aspect, bearing across her shoulder a pike,
surmounted by the Phrygian cap. This great artist, in consequence of
his intimacy with Franklin, had conceived the greatest enthusiasm for
the cause of the United States. Franklin resided at Passy, and Dupré at
Auteuil. As they both went to Paris every day, they met and made
acquaintance on the road--an acquaintance which soon ripened into
friendship. Dupré first engraved Franklin's seal with the motto, "In
simplici salus," and afterward his portrait. This (p. xxiii) portrait
presents an alto-rilievo which is well adapted for medals only; it is
conceived in the spirit of the French school, which has always attached
great importance to the truthful rendering of flesh. The artist has
indicated the flat parts, the relaxation of the muscles, and, as it were,
the quivering of the flesh, so as to convey an exact idea of the age of
the model. He has conscientiously represented the lines which the
finger of Time imprints on the countenance, but, above all, he has
given us with wonderful fidelity the physiognomy of the American
sage, his shrewd simplicity, his sagacity, and his expression of serene
uprightness. A Latin hexameter from the pen of Turgot became the
well-known legend of this