The origin of medals or medallions goes back to ancient times when portraits of famous people were often placed on currency. Through the centuries, medals were also produced to mark important social or political events and to commemorate more personal occasions including births, marriages, and deaths. David d'Angers, named for Angers, the city of his birth located southwest of Paris on the Maine River, created more than 500 portrait medallions of the illustrious men and women of his era, thus recording their images for posterity. Although he occasionally documented likenesses of these individuals in 3/4 view, he preferred the profile format, once commenting, "I have always been profoundly stirred by a profile. The full face looks at us; the profile is in relation with other beings." David's artistic production also included portrait busts and public monuments. His sculptural relief for the pediment of the Panthéon in central Paris illustrates a female personification of the Nation distributing crowns to the great men of France.