Popular Culture and National Identity
Banca d’ltaiia’s 1,000 lire (Montessori)
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Austrian Ntl. Bank’s 50 schilling (Freud)
Obviously the examples are exponential — it is clear from a brief
overview that national currency is increasingly considered an important
medium through which cultural figures and national pride are celebrated.
The introduction of the euro in 1999 marked an important
recognition by an international body of the importance of individual
culture within a shared community. Planning and preparation for the
launch of the new currency took years. The notes share the same designs
across all countries in Europe, inspired by the theme “ages and styles of
Europe,” depicting the architectural styles from seven periods of
Europe’s cultural history through elements such as windows, gateways,
and bridges: Classical, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and
Rococo, Iron and glass architecture, and Modem twentieth-century
architecture. While the coins bear an image of the European continent on
the “common” side, the national side of the coins reflects the individual
countries’ most important cultural icons. Smaller countries, like
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg chose their monarchs’ visages
on all coin denominations. Other countries chose a prominent figure or
image for their “national” sides^ — France (Mariane), Spain (Cervantes),
Greece (Athenian owl), Ireland (Celtic harp), Austria (Mozart), and
Germany (Brandenburg Gate).
Mariane
Cervantes
Athenian owl
Irish harp
Mozart
Brandenburg Gate
Italy reflects some of the most diverse national currency,
incorporating Rafael’s portrait of Dante Alighieri, da Vinci’s Vitmvian
Man, a futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni, a detail of Botticelli’s
“The Birth of Venus,” the Coliseum of Rome, and the paving design of