Steel Alexander the Great coin pendant

This pendant is an extremely accurate 3D laser-scanned, 3D printed, and hand-cast enlargement of a low-relief medallion depicting Alexander the Great, from the collection of the Walters Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. I've taken the scan by Direct Dimensions, and accentuated the relief's depth and given it a twisted, rope-like setting and bale, so that it can be worn as a pendant.

Alexander is identified by his young, idealized face, his leonine brow, and deep-set eyes, which altogether were meant to express "pothos"—a yearning to do something new and extraordinary. In this portrait he is wearing the head and skin of the mythic Nemean lion, modelling himself after the demigod Heracles, whom Alexander claimed as an ancestor.

The Getty Museum describes Alexander as "the first Greek ruler to understand and exploit the propagandistic powers of portraiture. Ancient literary sources say that he let only one sculptor carve his portrait: Lysippos, who created the standard Alexander portrait type. In general such portraits incorporated characteristics that had been used earlier for the representation of gods and heroes. This practice was part of Alexander's adoption of the Near Eastern idea of honoring rulers as if they were gods."

Portraits of Alexander have been remixed, copied, and reiterated countless times over 2,000 years. You can wear the very latest reinvention—this pendant—around your neck, in a an alloy of bronze and stainless steel.

(Visit my shop for the same piece in a variety of precious and semi-precious metals: shapeways.com/shops/cosmowenman)

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