In 1956 Piet Esser was asked to make a commemorative medal of Rembrandt, by the city council of Leiden. He was obsessed by this medal from then on and, over the years, he made six hundred different versions. From Rembrandt as a young novice to an old man. Why the medal, you may ask yourself? When making a medal, it is a challenge to make monumental gestures on a small surface. A medal is a proof of skill. In the Henriette Polak museum collection there are many medals. To make a good medal, artistic insight, much patience and craftsmanship are needed. Piet Esser had all of these skills. His artistic vision of the medal was a good portrait on a flat base and easy edge lettering with a great deal of focus on the material and creation process. He also had a modern vision regarding lettering: the decorating of letters, or a letter as an independent shape. Consider the R for Rembrandt.