Russia (France) Bronze Medal 1891 - French Exhibition in Moscow - Alexander III (1881–1894)

106.53g. 64mm. UNC/UNC. 

Paris mint. Marks on the edge: "BRONZE", cornucopia. 

Medalier: Oscar Roty. 

Diakov 1065.3 (Ae - R1). 

Obv.: Female figure personifying Russia welcomes a youth descending towards her; in the background, the Moscow Kremlin.

Inscription around:

MOSCOV • ACCVEILLE • LE • CENIE • FRANCAIS

(Moscow welcomes French genius).

Rev.: In the centre, shields with the Russian and French coats of arms within a laurel wreath; above them, under the semicircular inscription, a two-line inscription MEDAILLE | COMMEMORATIVE (Commemorative medal); below, a rectangular tablet inscribed C. DE COMBEROUSSE, and underneath the date. 

Inscription around:

EXPOSITION FRANCAISE A MOSCOV

(French Exhibition in Moscow).

In exergue:

M . D . CCCXCI

(1891).

The French Exhibition held in Moscow in 1891 was an important cultural and economic event reflecting the growing rapprochement between the Russian Empire and France. By presenting French industry, art, and technical achievement to a Russian audience, the exhibition served not only commercial purposes but also wider diplomatic ones, at a time when relations between the two states were becoming increasingly close. In the broader context of late nineteenth-century Europe, the exhibition in Moscow, modern Russia, formed part of the symbolic and public groundwork that preceded the formal consolidation of the Franco-Russian Alliance.