This medal was chosen as the 49th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series. The medal's obverse bears a muscular nude goddess of art holding a small Nike with Pegasus and guiding star behind. The reverse bears a hand holding a modeling tool in front of a caliper and L-square. Around, THIS ABOVE ALL TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE.
The purpose of Abram Belskie's medal is not known, but the title, a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, suggests that this medal was commissioned to honor artistic achievement and to encourage artists to follow their own creative impulses. In the artist's own words:
"The drama of Sculpture does not always appear on the surface but its story is indeed the story of civilization. Art is a goddess who smiles upon all, though mostly on her votaries and whose charms are very young. The sculptors of every age are the true mute though not inglorious laureates of their time and as long as men remain men, the principals [sic] of eternal beauty will woo their imagination."
The Society's members seemed torn on this medal. While some found it beautiful and even without peer, others objected to lack of detail, anatomical weaknesses, and being too modernistic for plain men.