Obverse: Mother breastfeeding. Two children watching. Pelican feeding its young. Spindle weaving. MATERNUM PERTENTANT GAUDIA PECTUS (They fill the hearts of their mothers with joy) LA BONNE MERE (The good mother).
ReverseMan helping an old woman and a farmer with the plough. COLLIGET AVUS (Holding the old man) LE BON CHEF DE FAMILLE (The good head of the family).
This silver medal, engraved by the King's medallist Nicolas-Marie Gatteaux (1751-1832), commemorates the festival of "The Good People" instituted in 1775 in Canon, Mézidon and Vieux-Fumé (Calvados, Basse-Normandie) by the jurist and friend of Voltaire, Jean-Baptiste Elie de Beaumont (1732-1786) and his wife, the writer Anne-Louise Morin Dumesnil. Cash prizes and annuities were awarded to "the good mother", "the good daughter", "the good old man" and "the good head of the family".
The prize for the good daughter reflects the tradition of the "Rosières" festivals: in several regions of northern France (Normandy, Picardy), festivals were held to reward virtuous maidens with a wreath of roses and a financial reward. Saint Medard, bishop of Noyon in the 5th century, is credited with instituting this annual festival, which persisted until the Revolution.
A phrase very similar to MATERNUM PERTENTANT GAUDIA PECTUS is found in the book POEMATUM LIBRI QUINQUE published in Basel in 1522 by Velius, Caspar Ursinus (Casparis Ursini Velii).