VIENNA.- Coin images are among the smallest portraits in the world – yet they tell great stories. Every day, they passed through countless hands, were minted in vast quantities and literally shaped the image of their time. The portrait on a coin was often the one that subjects saw most frequently – a powerful medium of self expression. This made it all the more significant how rulers presented themselves on those few square centimetres; some became true trendsetters. Fashion, power, and identity come together in a very small space: hairstyles, crowns, hats, and collars become symbols of status and style consciousness.

The exhibition Head and Shoulders. Coins in Fashion at the Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum presents nearly 200 coin portraits from a cultural-historical perspective and showcases fashion and lifestyle from over 2,400 years. All exhibits come from the holdings of the Coin Cabinet, which, like no other collection, can illuminate this topic with such a high-quality selection. In addition, visitors can use two media stations to learn in detail how portraits of important personalities were transferred from paintings to the small format of coins and how the clean-shaven Emperor Franz Joseph I became the wearer of the most famous sideburns in Europe.

Symbolic headwear

The small size of coin portraits often requires symbolic imagery. The hairstyles, clothing, and accessories depicted are more than just aesthetic accessories; they reflect the spirit of the times and provide a window into the culture of past eras. The exhibition pays particular attention to symbolic headwear.

The coin portraits of ancient Roman emperors and Queen Elizabeth II of England have one thing in common: a laurel wreath as a symbol of victory and divine legitimacy. Its depiction runs like a thread through the history of coins, connecting eras and genders. Magnificent imperial and royal crowns, traditional headwear of Indigenous peoples, imposing hats, and precious veils reflect courtly splendour and social role models.

From today’s perspective, the exotic animal head crowns of antiquity are particularly impressive; for example, the so-called Nezak kings, a late antique dynasty in present day Afghanistan, wore an elaborate crown with a crescent moon, a pair of wings, and the skull of a water buffalo, combining claims to power and mysticism.

Hair and beard trends as status symbols

Whether moustache, goatee, stubble, or full beard – facial hair initially served primarily to protect against wind and weather. But like clothing and headgear, beards were also subject to changing fashions. They became a sign of power, dignity, and representation of the ruling class.

In the Middle Ages, beards were considered a status symbol and were ‘untouchable’. In the ninth century, King Alfred of England decreed that anyone who cut off another person’s beard would have to pay a heavy fine. On 1 January 1698, Russian Tsar Peter the Great achieved the opposite effect with the introduction of a beard tax, the payment of which was documented with specially minted coins. Those who did not want to give up their beards had to pay for keeping them.

Hairstyles were also an expression of power and fashion consciousness. Rulers liked to wear their hair chin-length, but a century later, they wore it short – and pointed goatees were a must-have.

In the exhibition, visitors encounter figures such as Ludovico Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, with his characteristic zazzera haircut – the Renaissance bob – and King Louis XII, who combined fashionable headgear with the French fleur-de-lis crown on his coins.

In the Renaissance, hats became true fashion statements. Anyone of rank and name wore a beret or myllan cap – made of brocade, velvet, or fine felt. These elaborate headdresses revealed status, education, and attitude.

People also set trends: noblewomen appeared with elaborate braided hairstyles and richly embroidered bonnets. At the European courts of the Baroque period, they had their hair combed into artistic updos, while princes wore oversized curly wigs. A journey through modern times presents hair trends from several centuries and may offer inspiration for your own styling.

Precious self-expression

The French queen Maria de’ Medici is considered a fashion trendsetter of the early modern period. Her medals are among the highlights of engraving art: her voluminous lace collars unfold an almost three-dimensional effect. These fan-shaped stand-up collars, which were very en vogue from the end of the sixteenth to the early seventeenth century, were eventually even named after her and are known as ‘Medici collars’.

The exhibition Head and Shoulders shows that fashion and power have always been inextricably linked. Portraits served as a means of self-presentation and self expression, and like no other genre of imagery, coin and medal portraits offer insights into fashion history.

They document how clothing, accessories, and hairstyles reflect the status of the personalities depicted and how closely fashion is linked to the expression of identity.

Inspired by the Coin Cabinet and interpreted through Craft

A special highlight is the collaboration with KunstModeDesign Herbststrasse, where fashion meets craftsmanship. Students of the evening college jewellery design course were inspired by antique coins and modern medals and present their contemporary jewellery in dialogue with the historical exhibits.

Johannes Hartner, Anna Lörnitzo, Andrea Mayr, Benedikt Prokisch, Andrea Spinka, Klaus Vondrovec, and Heinz Winter curated the exhibition.

Accompanying the exhibition is the publication Coins in Fashion – designed like a fashion magazine that elegantly, visually opulently and surprisingly differently combines historical trends and modern inspirations. Available in German only.