When we say 'gold medal', the first image which comes into our minds is that of an athlete standing on the first place of the podium and waving his hands in the air with a happy smile on his face. It doesn't even occur to us that are other types of competitions too. Their winners may not enjoy the same public recognition, but within their communities they are regarded as the best professionals. These are the artists, people of great talent who dedicate their lives to their passions. And, just like great results in sports, their achievements are recognized too and rewarded with gold medals.
Throughout the history of humanity, medals have been one of the forms in which people commemorate a place, an event or a fellow human being who makes an important contribution to society and its evolution. Large medallions or small plaques, medals come in gold, silver and bronze, metals which designate the three Ages of Man in Greek Mythology: the Golden Age, when men lived among the gods, the Silver Age, with youth lasting a hundred years, and the Bronze Age, the time of heroes. In modern times though, things seems to have reversed and gold medalist are regarded as gods living among men for this is how extraordinary their qualities are.
Following the example of sports competitions, since 18th century gold medals have been awarded in the field of arts as well as a symbol of an award giving an outstanding student some financial freedom. The tone was set by the Royal Danish Academy and, later on, the practice was adopted in other competitive fields, such as writing and music. And, just like in sport, the award of a gold medal for the first place is coupled with the award of silver and bronze medals for the next places.
Nowadays, there are numerous organizations which recognize the work of artists by granting them various awards and prizes. But few people know that there was a time when efforts were made for arts and sports to be put on an equal footing in terms of competitions. Thus, art competitions formed part of the modern Olympic Games during its early years, from 1912 to 1948. They were part of the original idea of the Olympic Movements founder, Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin. Artists representing the five accepted categories (architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture) were asked to present works of art inspired of sport. At the end of the competition, the highest ranked of them were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals. Yet, the art competition came to an end in 1948 due to the fact that artists were considered to be professionals, whereas Olympic athletes were required to be amateurs.
As we can see, a gold medal has the same meaning for an artist as it has for an athlete. It's a prize awarded in recognition of somebody's genius, talent and hard work. In the end, achievements of both athletes and artists are nothing but a joyful celebration of the human being's complexity. While great athletes highlight the perfection and beauty of the human body, outstanding artists celebrate the sensitivity and beauty of the human spirit. And, for these extraordinary people's medals, only the purest of gold should be bought, with the advice of the greatest professionals in the field. After all, we don't buy just gold, but glory as well.
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