Ottheinrich, Count of the Rhenish Palatinate (b. 1502; Duke of Lower and Upper Bavaria 1502–59; Prince Elector of the Palatinate 1556–59)

One of the first acts of Ottheinrich as Prince Elector was to reintroduce the Reformation in the Palatinate. With the help of Melanchthon, he gave the University of Heidelberg a new constitution, making it one of the leading humanistic universities in the empire. A prominent art collector and patron, Ottheinrich commissioned about thirty portrait medals of himself from the best German medalists. This medal belongs to a group of sixteen made from 1551 to 1559, published by Habich under the heading "Otto-Heinrich of the Palatinate Group," which are among the finest medals produced in Germany at that time but for which there is no agreement on authorship. Scholars have linked the medals to the alabaster bust of the sitter (Louvre, Paris), recently attributed to Dietrich Schro (act. ca. 1542/44–1572/73).

Source: Scher, Stephen K., et al. The Scher Collection of Commemorative Medals. New York and London, 2019.