Results of the public anonymous competition for the design of a silver 10-euro collector coin to commemorating Master Pavol of Levoča

First prize and the selected design
Mária Poldaufová

Second prize
Štefan Novotný

In June 2011, Národná banka Slovenska announced a public anonymous competition for the design of a 10-euro silver collector coin to commemorate Master Pavol of Levoča, one of the most important medieval wood-carvers in Central Europe. Twenty-one designs by sixteen authors were entered in the competition. In September 2011, they were assessed by the NBS Governor’s Committee for the Assessment of Designs for Slovak Euro Coins. The expert advisors to the Committee were Ing. arch. Viera Dvořáková, a representative of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, and Dr. Dušan Buran, a representative of the Slovak National Gallery.

The design approved for the coin, and the winner of first prize in the competition, was made by Mária Poldaufová. The Committee praised the design for depicting the following motifs from the best-known works by Master Pavol: the Virgin Mary in the Nativity Scene from the so-called Czáky’s altar in St Jacob’s church in Levoča (obverse design side), and the Apostle from the predella of the main altar in the same church (reverse side). The figurative motifs are accompanied by ornamental elements, which aptly reflect Master Pavol’s position as an artist working at a time when the Gothic period was giving way to the Renaissance. The Committee also appreciated the balance in obverse and reverse sides and the composition that takes into account that the coins will be minting in proof.

Second prize was awarded to Štefan Novotný. The Committee was impressed with the author’s effort to include the applied motifs in the wider context of Master Pavol’s work. The obverse side depicts the interior of St Jacob’s church in Levoča with an outline of the main altar and a detail of the Madonna from the tabernacle of the main altar. The reverse side features a motif from The Last Supper from the predella of the main altar, accompanied by a conceptual portrait of Master Pavol. Both sides accentuate typical elements of the Late Gothic style in Slovak sculpture, appropriately combined with the circular inscription.

No third prize was awarded in the competition.

The coin is included in the “European Silver Programme”, a programme launched in 2004 under which multiple Member States of the European Union annually issue silver coins with common theme and showing the common Eurostar logo consisting of a European star and a stylised euro sign. The objective of this programme is to present historical and cultural values of the participating countries and to enhance international interest in collecting thematic collections of European coins.