A Couple of Renaissance Medals
Iosephus
Posts: 872 ✭✭✭
Alvise de Noale
c. 1512-1520
Bronze, 37.3 mm Ø 38.9 g
Obverse: Bust of Alvise da Noale facing left with beard and long hair, wearing cloak knotted at the breast.
Reverse: Inscription across the field, ALOYSI / VS · ANOAL / IS · IVRECON / SVLTVS / · (Alvise da Noale, Jurisconsult).
Alvise da Noale was a prominent Venetian lawyer, active in public affairs from 1509 until at least 1533. He is mentioned often in I Diarii di Marino Sanuto starting in 1509. That work concludes in the year 1533. He was a member of the patrician Mudazo family and became chief magistrate of Noale. The dating of this medal is based on the style of the portrait.
Provenance: Plate medal for Le Medaglie Italiane del XVI Secolo by Giuseppe Toderi and Fiorenza Vannel.
References: Hill 538; NGA 192; Voltolina 231; Börner 209; Toderi-Vannel 712
Giuliano II de' Medici
1513
Bronze, 33.6 mm Ø 20.8 g
Obverse: Bust of Giuliano de' Medici facing left with curly hair. Around, MAGNVS IVLIANVS MEDICES (The Great Giuliano de' Medici).
Reverse: Roma seated to the left on cuirass and shields on which her left hand rests. Her right hand holds a figure of winged Victory, which is facing right with a wreath in her outstretched hands. To the sides, C P (With the Agreement of the People), and in exergue, ROMA (Rome).
Hill notes that the C P on the reverse is explained by a contemporary source as standing for the Italian phrase consenso pubblico, while Pollard in the NGA catalog attributes the abbreviation to the equivalent Latin phrase consensu populi.
In 1513, Giuliano's elder brother, Giovanni, was elected Pope and took the name of Leo X, leading to Giuliano being admitted as a citizen and patrician of Rome. This medal, along with two other variants, was made for distribution to the crowds at festivities celebrating this occasion. Giuliano was also made Captain General of the Church and Gonfalonier of the Church.
References: Hill 887; Börner 345; Bargello 1346
c. 1512-1520
Bronze, 37.3 mm Ø 38.9 g
Obverse: Bust of Alvise da Noale facing left with beard and long hair, wearing cloak knotted at the breast.
Reverse: Inscription across the field, ALOYSI / VS · ANOAL / IS · IVRECON / SVLTVS / · (Alvise da Noale, Jurisconsult).
Alvise da Noale was a prominent Venetian lawyer, active in public affairs from 1509 until at least 1533. He is mentioned often in I Diarii di Marino Sanuto starting in 1509. That work concludes in the year 1533. He was a member of the patrician Mudazo family and became chief magistrate of Noale. The dating of this medal is based on the style of the portrait.
Provenance: Plate medal for Le Medaglie Italiane del XVI Secolo by Giuseppe Toderi and Fiorenza Vannel.
References: Hill 538; NGA 192; Voltolina 231; Börner 209; Toderi-Vannel 712
Giuliano II de' Medici
1513
Bronze, 33.6 mm Ø 20.8 g
Obverse: Bust of Giuliano de' Medici facing left with curly hair. Around, MAGNVS IVLIANVS MEDICES (The Great Giuliano de' Medici).
Reverse: Roma seated to the left on cuirass and shields on which her left hand rests. Her right hand holds a figure of winged Victory, which is facing right with a wreath in her outstretched hands. To the sides, C P (With the Agreement of the People), and in exergue, ROMA (Rome).
Hill notes that the C P on the reverse is explained by a contemporary source as standing for the Italian phrase consenso pubblico, while Pollard in the NGA catalog attributes the abbreviation to the equivalent Latin phrase consensu populi.
In 1513, Giuliano's elder brother, Giovanni, was elected Pope and took the name of Leo X, leading to Giuliano being admitted as a citizen and patrician of Rome. This medal, along with two other variants, was made for distribution to the crowds at festivities celebrating this occasion. Giuliano was also made Captain General of the Church and Gonfalonier of the Church.
References: Hill 887; Börner 345; Bargello 1346
0
Comments
TalerUniverse.com is a curated numismatic project dedicated to the silver talers, crowns, and medals of the Habsburg Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, spanning the 16th–18th centuries. The collection emphasizes historically significant issues, rare mint varieties, and high-grade NGC/PCGS examples, presented with detailed historical context, scholarly references, and high-resolution photography. TalerUniverse aims to serve both as a private collection showcase and a growing reference resource for collectors, researchers, and students of early-modern European coinage.
<< <i>How's the website coming
Slowly; many items to still work out. Hopefully I'll have it presentable eventually
Virtus Collection - Renaissance and Baroque Medals
FOR SALE Items
So these are 16th century pieces, then? I wouldn't have guessed that, from the lettering. But then I guess medals such as these would have gotten more attention to their engraving than circulating coins would.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
<< <i>So these are 16th century pieces, then? I wouldn't have guessed that, from the lettering. But then I guess medals such as these would have gotten more attention to their engraving than circulating coins would. >>
Yep, early 16th century.
Medals of that time are generally (IMO) of much higher quality than coins, for a couple of reasons. One reason of course being as you pointed out, there would be more attention paid to the creation of the design and the manufacturing of the actual medal, since they are really more akin to miniature works of art than mass produced monetary objects.
Equally as important is the method by which they were produced; most early medals (such as these) were cast, not struck. This allowed better detail as the models would often be created as miniature sculptures in wax, from which a mold would then be made, rather than being engraved into a die. Similarly, while a large amount of force would be needed for high relief designs to be struck, there is no such requirement for casting.
As technology improved, struck medals started to really come into their own around the middle of the sixteenth century, and while purists (such as the venerable George Francis Hill) will turn their noses up at them, they are still magnificent pieces of miniature art which continued (again IMO) to surpass the coins of the era in quality.
Virtus Collection - Renaissance and Baroque Medals