This medal was chosen as the 7th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series. The medal's obverse bears a winged cherub holding two laurel crowns. At lower right, GLORIA. The reverse bears a cicada flanked by FA - MA; in lower right Jennewein's distinctive signature, a stylized facial profile, CPJ / 1933 / ©. The border is boldly beaded.
Jennewein contrasts Glory and Fame, two aspects of achievement and recognition, on a medal, which itself is often used as an award. He thus makes a subtle point not just about the distinction between fame and glory but also about the medium itself. In his "Message from the Artist" Jennewein wrote:
"Fame and Glory are symbolized in this medal as the elements in the life of men which the awarding of medals is designed to promote and recognize. But the artist has made a subtle distinction between that Glory which, unsought, belongs to those who aspire, strive and sacrifice for a great ideal, and that Fame which is won by self-seeking in the attainment of public eminence for the gratification of personal power and vanity."
He used the cicada as a symbol for the latter because its "noisy and shrill self-assertion gains wide hearing but is only the discordant demonstration of an obstreperous but insignificant creature." If Jennewein was annoyed by this type of person, I wonder what he would make of much of modern pop culture...
The medal measures 73mm in diameter. The Medallic Art Company of New York reportedly struck 1,237 pieces in bronze and 125 (out of 700 authorized) in silver.
References: Marqsee 209
