Renaissance Medal - Francesco I Sforza by Sperandio
Iosephus
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Francesco I Sforza / Memorial Chapel
by Sperandio, c. 1466
Lead, 90.5 mm Ø, 280.9 g
A good quality contemporary cast, with sharp designs and lettering. Unfortunately, this medal has had a hard life, and being cast in soft yet heavy lead which is decidedly unglamorous has certainly not helped. With signifcant wear to both sides, battered edges, and twice holed for mounting, the obverse has further suffered damage to the bottom of the bust's armor and a smashed in nose. However, the essence of the subject's vigor and presence still shines through, and the reverse design yields an interesting look at Renaissance architecture.
Obverse: Bust of Francesco I Sforza facing three-quarters right, wearing plate armor. Around, FRANCISCVS · SFORTIA · VICECOMES · DVX · MEDIOLANI · QVARTVS (Francesco Sforza Visconti, Fourth Duke of Milan). At the top, a rose separating the beginning and end of the inscription.
Reverse: Frontal view of a Renaissance style building. Around, · OPVS · SPERANDEI · (The Work of Sperandio). At the top, a rose separating the beginning and end of the inscription.
Francesco Sforza (1401-1466) was primarily employed by Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, in the wars with Venice. In 1441, Francesco married Filippo's daughter Bianca Maria, acquiring the family name of Visconti which is present on this medal. Upon Filippo's death in 1447, Milan was briefly a republican government. After years of famine and following riots, the city's senate recognized Francesco as duke. An able ruler who modernized Milan, he died in March of 1466, and was succeeded by his son, Galeazzo Maria Sforza.
The style of the bust suggests that it is based on a painted portrait. Pollard notes that while Sperandio did appear on the ducal accounts compiled after Francesco's death, there is no proof that Sperandio ever visited Milan and the recorded sum is too large for a medal. He suggests that the medal was produced while Sperandio was in Ferrara.
The building on the reverse, in a Renaissance style and built on a Greek cross plan, is believed to be a design for a memorial chapel for the duke. It is probable that this medal was commissioned as a memorial to the duke following his death in 1466.
Sperandio di Bartolommeo Savelli was one of the most prolific medallists of the 15th century, with nearly 50 medals by his hand listed in Hill's Corpus. Sperandio journeyed much during his years as a medallist, and was active in Ferrara, Faenza, Bologna, Mantua, and Venice. Goethe considered him first among the Italian medallists (placing him even above Pisanello), though more recent scholars such as Fabriczy, Hill, Jones, and Pollard have chastised this opinion. Sperandio's strongest work is considered to be the bold and vigorous portraits on his medals. However, his reverse designs have been summarily panned for their crude, uninspired forms. Though modern views might hold his work in some disdain, there is no doubt that Sperandio's work was in demand, accounting for his large oeuvre.
References: Hill 361; Pollard NGA 94; Börner 122; Toderi-Vannel Bargello 132; Johnson-Martini Milano 524-525
by Sperandio, c. 1466
Lead, 90.5 mm Ø, 280.9 g
A good quality contemporary cast, with sharp designs and lettering. Unfortunately, this medal has had a hard life, and being cast in soft yet heavy lead which is decidedly unglamorous has certainly not helped. With signifcant wear to both sides, battered edges, and twice holed for mounting, the obverse has further suffered damage to the bottom of the bust's armor and a smashed in nose. However, the essence of the subject's vigor and presence still shines through, and the reverse design yields an interesting look at Renaissance architecture.
Obverse: Bust of Francesco I Sforza facing three-quarters right, wearing plate armor. Around, FRANCISCVS · SFORTIA · VICECOMES · DVX · MEDIOLANI · QVARTVS (Francesco Sforza Visconti, Fourth Duke of Milan). At the top, a rose separating the beginning and end of the inscription.
Reverse: Frontal view of a Renaissance style building. Around, · OPVS · SPERANDEI · (The Work of Sperandio). At the top, a rose separating the beginning and end of the inscription.
Francesco Sforza (1401-1466) was primarily employed by Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, in the wars with Venice. In 1441, Francesco married Filippo's daughter Bianca Maria, acquiring the family name of Visconti which is present on this medal. Upon Filippo's death in 1447, Milan was briefly a republican government. After years of famine and following riots, the city's senate recognized Francesco as duke. An able ruler who modernized Milan, he died in March of 1466, and was succeeded by his son, Galeazzo Maria Sforza.
The style of the bust suggests that it is based on a painted portrait. Pollard notes that while Sperandio did appear on the ducal accounts compiled after Francesco's death, there is no proof that Sperandio ever visited Milan and the recorded sum is too large for a medal. He suggests that the medal was produced while Sperandio was in Ferrara.
The building on the reverse, in a Renaissance style and built on a Greek cross plan, is believed to be a design for a memorial chapel for the duke. It is probable that this medal was commissioned as a memorial to the duke following his death in 1466.
Sperandio di Bartolommeo Savelli was one of the most prolific medallists of the 15th century, with nearly 50 medals by his hand listed in Hill's Corpus. Sperandio journeyed much during his years as a medallist, and was active in Ferrara, Faenza, Bologna, Mantua, and Venice. Goethe considered him first among the Italian medallists (placing him even above Pisanello), though more recent scholars such as Fabriczy, Hill, Jones, and Pollard have chastised this opinion. Sperandio's strongest work is considered to be the bold and vigorous portraits on his medals. However, his reverse designs have been summarily panned for their crude, uninspired forms. Though modern views might hold his work in some disdain, there is no doubt that Sperandio's work was in demand, accounting for his large oeuvre.
References: Hill 361; Pollard NGA 94; Börner 122; Toderi-Vannel Bargello 132; Johnson-Martini Milano 524-525
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Comments
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
Another great pickup in any case. Congrats!
<< <i>I don't understand the purpose of the lead versions - beyond die trials and the like - since they tend not to age nor stand up to knocks well. >>
It seems that there are a couple of reasons for lead medals, one being that which you mentioned. In Pollard's introduction to his catalog of the NGA collection, he states that "On cooling, the first cast specimen of the medal appeared. This was probably made of lead, could be worked on with cutting and graving tools to ameliorate any blemishes". Similarly, Hill writes in his survey of Renaissance medals that "As to lead, it was a favourite material in the fifteenth century for making trial proofs owing to the ease with which it was melted."
However, Pollard also mentions the use of lead in creating reproductions:
"The lead examples of Italian Renaissance medals that have survived appear to be copies of medals made of bronze, for the medal was a court art, and at the level of courtly exchange, lead would not have been acceptable as a material. However, contemporary lead reproductions of medals are recorded as being available to collectors who could not obtain, from the world of court, examples of medals in bronze. A German student at Padua, Ulrich Gossembrot, wrote to his father Sigismund, burgermeister of Augsburg, in November 1459 to say that he was sending a parcel of lead medals depicting his teachers at the university. The original medals were by Pisanello and Matteo de' Pasti, and the letter shows that contemporary reproductions in lead were available for collectors."
Regarding this specimen, it would seem to me (based on dimensions and quality) not to be an aftercast from a bronze medal. Indeed, I measured the bust height to approximately 59-60mm, which aligns with the height of the Berlin specimen (a good cast), recorded at 59mm by Börner.
Admittedly, I vacillated much before deciding to purchase this piece. In the end, I could find to other examples, contemporary or later casts, previously offered for sale (albeit in a somewhat limited search based on my non-extensive sources). Also, it appears to me that the specimen in Florence and the two in Milan, while of better condition, are poorer quality later casts.
Virtus Collection - Renaissance and Baroque Medals
What fun!