The Roman Medallists of The Renaissance To The Time of Leo X / by G.F. Hill

PAPERS OF THE BRITISH
SCHOOL AT ROME.
Volume IX.
FACULTY OF ARCHAEOLOGY,
HISTORY AND LETTERS
LONDON:
1920
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PAPERS QF THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ROME.

Vol. IX. No. 2.
THE ROMAN MEDALLISTS OF THE

RENAISSANCE TO THE TIME OF LEO X.
By G. F. HILL, F.B.A.
There was not, properlyspeaking,a Roman School of Medallists
beforethe middleof-the sixteenthcentury,and whenat last something
likea schoolcouldbe said to have been establishedat Rome,the art had
fallento so low a level,in everyrespectexceptthat of technique,thatit
had becomenearlydevoidofinterest. The medallistswho workedthere
fromthe timeofNicholasV. werealmost,ifnot quite,withoutexception
fromothercitiessuch as Florenceor Mantua. The workof
immigrants
thisartisticcottuvies
however,receiveda certaindefinite
gentium,
impress
fromthe surroundings
in whichtheylived. Theremay not be a Roman
and the relationsof the artists
style,but thereis a Roman atmosphere,
with the Papal court give a certaincontinuityof interestwhichit is
worthwhileto tryand trace.
The commonestof all Italian medals are to b foundin the long
seriesofportraitsofthe Popes. One oftheseseries,withfancylikenesses
of St. Peter'ssuccessorsdownto JohnXXII. (1410-17),rudecastingsof
no artisticvalue, was made at some timein the sixteenthcentury,and
is said to be the work of a Milanese,GiovanniBattista Pozzi. More
is theseriesofPopes fromMartinV.
respectablein regardto workmanship
to
Pius
V.
struck
fromdies by GiovanniPaladino.
(1417-31)
(1566-1572),
The portraitson thisseriesare copiedfromauthenticlikenesses,
but only
16
The Roman Medallists
of the Renaissance.
17
documents.
the latest of the series have any value as contemporary
Both thesemedallistsworkedtowardsthe end of the sixteenthcentury,
the other,and theyneed be mentionedonly
one of themsupplementing
order
to
in
give warningagainst the too frequentuse that is made of
evidence.
theirworkas contemporary
a
from
small
piecex struckfromdies, and commemorating
Apart
the presenceof Eugenius IV. at the FlorentineCouncilin 1439, which
hardlyconcernsus here,as it is on too smalla scale to aim at portraiture,
medallistreprethe earliestmedal of a Pope made by a contemporary
V. (1447-55),althoughit was notmadeactuallyin his lifesents^Nicholas
time. The artistwas Guaccialottiof Florence.Sinceit is nowpractically
certainthat the greatestof Italian medallists,pisanello,who ended his
2
days in October,1455, was in Rome at the time,we mighthave hoped
fora portraitof Nicholasfromhis hand. But the only evidencethat
the Pope mayhave sate to himis of doubtfulvalidity. In the collection
of drawingsin^theLouvre3whichcontainsthegreatmajorityofauthentic
studiesbythemaster,thereis a recordby someonewhov/ascontemplating
Atlas bearingthe
a medal of Nicholas. A sketchfora medal represents
to
the
a
are
crossed
tiara
left
to
the
;
; above, the
;
right,
keys
globe
wordsNICOLAVS PAPA V are set out in a circle. I do notfeelcertain
that the styleof the drawingis Pisanello's; and I have not foundthe
watermark(a pair of shears) on any other paper used by the artist,
althoughit is ofhis time.4 We knownothingof Pisanello'sactivityfrom
1449,whenhe was stillworkingat the courtofAlfonsothe Magnanimous
1 Martinori(AnnalideltaZeccadi Roma,MartinoV., etc.,1918, p. 46), whoappearsto
in Bonanni(NumismataPontificum
knowthispiece onlyfromtheillustration
Romanorum,
a restitution
statementthatit is in all probability
by Paladino.
1699)makesthesurprising
He says that it is laterthan EugeniusIV. because,as he assumes,the shieldwiththe
crossedkeyswhichbalancesthat withthe armsof Eugeniusis the shieldof NicholasV.,
whereasit is, ofcourse,merelythearmsofthesee of St. Peter. (Nicholas,havingno arms
in
of his own, adopted the same device forhis shield.) A glanceat the illustrations
Die gepragten
Italienischen
Medaillen,p. 13, PI. I., 8 (silver,31 mm.,Berlin
Friedlnder,
Collection)or in Gatal. G. C. Rossi (1883),lot 203, Tav. III. (gold,32 mm.)willshowthe
of the attributionto Paladino. The piece was perhapsstruckat Florence
impossibility
ratherthan Rome,
* Gius.Biadego,AttidelR. 1st. Ven.lxvii.p. 850.
RecueilVallardi,.fol. 65/ no.;2319; reproducedin Heiss, Md. de la Ren., Vittore
Pisano, p. 38.
4 Hill, Pisanello,p. 211. The argumentfromthe water-markagainst Pisanello's
is, it mustbe admitted,weak,sincewe have no otherdrawingswhichwe can
authorship
say weredone by himlaterthan 1449,and in Rome,he may have obtaineda newstock
ofpaper
C
18
The British School at Rome.
at Naples, untilhis death six yearslater; and thoughit is a fairconjecture,it is no morethan a conjecturethathe may have been attracted
to Rome by a commission
fromthe Pope.
The medalofNicholasthathas survived(Fig. i)1 was cast by Andrea
Guaccialottior Guazzalottiof Prato, presumablyvery soon afterthe
Pope's death. A heavy, lumpishwork,it is the earliestextant effort
of the artist. Guaccialottiwas born in 1435, so that he was but little
more than twentyyears old at the time.2 He was the son of Filippo
Guaccialotti,and belongedto an old and respectablefamilyof Florentine
citizensdomiciledat Prato. At some timehe enteredthe householdof
Fig. 1.- Nicholas V. By Andrea Guaccialotti.
Niccol Palmieri,bishop of Orte, of whom he has leftan interesting

portraitmedal. He held the post of papal Scriptor,and was also canon
of Prato and priestofAjolo (Iolo) nearthatcity. Withtheseclericaloffices
he combinedconsiderableactivityas a bronzefounderand medallist.
The medal of Nicholas bears on the reversea designof the.Pope
seatedin a shipinscribedECLESIA ; he holdsthehelmin hisrighthand,
and in his lefta cross,to whichis attacheda pennonchargedwiththe
crossed-keys.The inscriptionstates that the Pope reignedeightyears
and twentydays, and died 25 Mar., 1454 (1455 N.S.). The signatureis
ANDREAS GVACIALOTIS. Everything
about themedal,composition,
is
coarse
and
and
amateurish,thoughunaffected
conception,lettering,
1 FromFriedlnder,
I tal. Schaumnzen
(1882),p. 134.
2 For his bicgraphysee J. Friedlander,AndreasGuacialotivonPrato
(1857),and the
same author'sItalienischeSchaumnzen
(1882),pp. 130 f.
The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.
19
sincereenough. By the time when he came to make his next medal,

that of CalixtusIII. (1455-1458),the artist'stechniquehad manifestly
improved,althoughthe medal itselfis of small interest,except as the
medallicportraitof the Pope (PL II. 1). The reverse
onlycontemporary
bearsthePapal armsand theinscription
ALFONSVS BORGIA GLORIA
ISPANIE. Guaccialotti'sthirdmedal,representing
Pius II. (1458-64),
was cast in 1460,and followson the same linesas its predecessor,
with
coat
of
arms
and
I.
in
At
some
time
the
other
1,
(PL
portrait
rev.).
same reignhe did a second medal of the.Pope (PL I. 2), with an
- the Pelican in her Piety- whichis
interesting
portrait,and a reverse
copied straightfromPisanello's medal of Vittorinoda Feltre. It is
evidentthat the inscriptionoriginal^ read Ales ut hec cordispavit de
sanguinenatos; but no specimenwiththisreadinghas been preserved;
the verbwas at an earlystage alteredfromthe thirdto the firstperson
singular,and the T replacedby a rosette.1
The medalsof Calixtusand Pius are unsigned,but are clearlyby the
same hand as latersignedmedals; and even if the evidenceof styledid
not suffice,
we have an epigramof Giov. AntonioCampana- a bishop
the courtof Pius- whichprovesthat Guaccialottimade
who frequented
medalsofthat Pope :
' aere Pium Andreacelas Pratensiset auro,
vivo ut credaturvivusin aere loqui.'
medals of Pius otherthan the two which
There are no contemporary
we haVedescribed.
This studyis not concernedwiththe workof Roman medallistsas
coin-engravers.It is perhaps howevernot inappropriateto mention
that the latest writer2on the Roman mint suggeststhat Guaccialotti
mayhave engraveddiesforthecoinageofCalixtusIII. ; but,as he himself
admits,the suggestionlacks the supportof documents.
For somereasonunknownto us GuaccialottididnotworkforPaul II. ;
no medal,at any rate,fromhis hand relatingto this Pope has survived.
We shall findhim again at workin Rome underSixtus IV. But two
pieces must be mentionedbeforewe dismissthe earlierperiodin his
career. At some time before1467 he made the medal of his patron
1 In his medalof NicholasV. also theartistseemsto have had troublewithhis verbs,
whichhe writesSEDI . . . OB1IT.
2 EdoardoMartinori,
Annali dellaZecca di Roma,NicolV., etc.,p. 32.
C 2
2o
NiccolPalmieri,whichhas come downto us in twoforms. The earlier,

undated, does not name the sitter; the undraped,tonsuredbust is
surroundedby the mottoNudus egres(s)ussic redibo(PL I. 3). On the
reverse,whichbears the signaturein the same formas on the medal of
a cloakhangingat his back, standPope Nicholas,is a nude male figure,
an
on
architectural
corbel,restingon a spear,and holdingan houring
and formof signatureseem to point to a date
glass. The lettering1
of Pope Nicholas. Examples of the medal
medal
the
to
close
fairly
But
when Palmieridied, Guaccialottiengraved
in thisformare rare.2
: on the obverse,
on a specimenthe followingadditionalinscriptions
Nicolaus Palmerius Siculus eps. Ortan(us); on the reverse,Vix(it)
B.F. (for
an(nos) LXV\ obiitA.D. M CCCCLXVII and Contubernalis
still
counted
himself
He
a
benemrito
therefore,
presumably
fecit).
member of the bishop's household.3 Many casts based on this
engravedpieceweremade,so thatthe medalin thisformis common.
Anothermedal made in Rome at sometimebetween1453 and 1461
has with good reason been ascribed to Guaccialotti(PI. II. 2). It
oftheUniversity
thefamousarchbishopofRouenand reformer
represents
of Paris, Guillaumed'Estouteville. The inscriptiondescribeshim as
theperiod
of Rouen,but notas BishopofOstia,thuslimiting
Archbishop
is
withinwhich the medal mighthave been cast. The workmanship
neaterthan is usual withGuaccialotti,whichled Friedlanderto hesitate
in suggestingthe attribution. But we may note in favour of the
suggestionthat the reverseinscriptionGloria Francor(um)recalls the
1 The' peculiarG is foundelsewhereonly on the medal of Nicholas. A forA is,
however,commonto all Guaccialotti'searlymedals.
2 Thosein the BritishMuseum(herePI.I. 3) and in Mr.T. W. Greene'scollectionare
the onlyspecimensrecorded.
3 Whenthe bishopdied, Guaccialottiplaced in the churchof S. Agostmo(or rather,
as Dr. A. W. van Burensuggests,in the chapelof that name whichprecededthe church
whichended to this
built in 1483) a slab, with the bishop's portraitand an inscription
effect: Vix. ann. LXV. men.XI. dies XXIX. obiitanno Dni. MCCCCLXVII. Andreas
Mon.I tal.p. 125 v. combined
alitereducatesbenemerit.
Pratensisab eo liber
f. (L. Schrader,
has unfortunately
withV. Forcella,Iscriz.delleChiese,v. p. 13, no. 25). This monument
of
give the correctinterpretation
disappeared,but the existingcopies of the inscription
therecords
theB.F. ofthemedal. I owe manythanksto Dr. van Burenforinvestigating
of the MS. copiesby Gallettiand Gualdiin
of this memorial,and sendingme transcripts
theslab (whichwas in thepavementoftheleftnave)
the Vaticanlibrary; unfortunately,
and
was evidentlymuchwornwhenthosecopies weremade,fortheyvary considerably
neitherofthemgivesthe artist'ssignature. The medalin its revisedformis describedby
Hortae(1723),lib. ii. cap. vii. p. 301, froma specimenin his
Fontanini,de Antiquitatibus
owncollection.
21
Gloria Ispanie of the Calixtus,and that the nude genius holdingthe

Estoutevillearmsstands,like the figureon the medal of Palmieri,on an
corbel. The handlingof the reliefis also in Guaccialotti's
architectural
not unlike.
manner,and the lettering
From 1464 onwardsit wouldappearthatthemedallistlivedmostlyat
Prato. Thereare extantletterswrittenby himto Lorenzode' Mediciin
1478; one of themaccompaniedfourmedalswhichhe had cast froma
modelby Bertoldodi Giovanni. Friedlnderconjecturedthat thesewere
specimensofthemedalofMohammadII., because,whenhewrote,thatwas
theonlymedalknownto have been made by Bertoldo. Since,however,
the Pazzi
Bode's attributionto Bertoldoof the medal commemorating
more
with
we
is
may
Conspiracyof 26 Apr., 1478 generallyaccepted,
to. The date of the
probabilityassume that this is the piece referred
letter(11 Sept., 1478) gives ample timeforthe executionof the model.
In any case, the Mohammadmedal is ruled out if, as Fabriczy1says,
the portraitof the Sultan is copied fromBellini's medal, whichdates
from1480.
Here for the presentwe may leave Guaccialottiat Prato, and
considerwhatwas happeningat Rome duringhis absence.
fromthosewhichwe have
The medalsof Paul II. (1464-71)2differ
one
alreadydiscussedin havinga moreofficialcharacter. The former,
feels,are just as muchprivatepersonalmedalsas thoseofany otherruler
of the time. But Paul's medalsare moreconcernedwithhis activities
as Pope than withhis personality. We have, in fact,an anticipationof
the art
the officialPapal medal of the sixteenthcentury. Fortunately,
riot
do
look
it
we
in
and surveying
ofthe quattrocento,
has the freshness
the
out on the depressingdead level of conceptionwhichcharacterises
the
onward.
the
of
time
the
subjects
Among
Bonzagnas
Papal seriesfrom
are the buildingactivitiesof the Pope, includinghis
commemorated
workon the Palazzo di S. Marcoand the Tribuneof St. Peter's,perhaps
also workplannedbut onlypartiallycarriedout on the Capitolor Castel
ofthe RomanUniversity
; the elaboraSant'Angelo; there-organisation
tion of the Carnivalfestivities
; the part playedby him in securingthe
Peace ofItaly ; thereceptionofa Maronitedeputationin 1469 ; and the
1 I tal. Medals,trans.Hamilton,p. no. I do not feelsurethathe is right.
2 I have discussedtheseveryfully,and illustrated
all knownvarieties,intheNutnistn.
Chronicle,
4thser.vol. x. (1910),and mustreferto thatpaperfordetails.
22
in whichthe heretickingof Bohemia,GeorgePodiebrad,was

Consistory
made forthe purpose
condemnedin Dec, 1466. Medalsweredefinitely
of-buryingin the foundationsof buildings,wheremany of themhave
since been found. Even beforehis accessionto the Papacy, Pier Barb
had orderedforthe same purposea neat littlemedal withhis portrait
reverses; the one (PI. II. 3) bearshis armsas Cardinal,
and two different
the othera view of the Palazzo di S. Marc,and both have the same
inscriptionHas aedes condiditanno ChristiMCCCCLV. The artistof
this medal is unknown,none of the attributionshithertosuggested
having any plausibility. Nor does it seem possibleas yet to identify
the artistof the groupof medalsbearingsimilartypesto the medal of
fromit in style)whichPaul caused to be made ten
1455 (but differing
years later. These commemoratethe foundationof a buildingwhich
is describedas arx* and also the foundation
ofaedes,by whichis meant,
as before,the Palazzo di S. Marco (PI. II. 5). Connectedwith these
medals by the use of a commonobverseis a reverse designof Letitia
Scholastica(PI. II. 7), a femalefigurein the pose and carryingthe
attribute(a flower)of the classical Spes, accompaniedby two small
scholars. Below are the lettersA BO-, which,thereis little doubt,
give the signatureof AristotileFioravante da Bologna. This man
is said to have been employedat the Roman Mint; certainlyhe was
accused at a later date (1473) of issuingfalse coins; still later,having
gone to Russia in 1475, he was employedas engraverto the Mintat
Moscow. Fioravantemay then be responsiblefor this reversedesign,
followthat he made the obverseto which
thoughit does not necessarily
it is attached. Anotherof the reversetypes of Paul, representing
HilaritasPublica,may perhaps,on the groundof style,be attributedto
the same hand. Fioravantewas an architectwho specialisedin the
art, by no means confinedto Americanengineers,of transporting
moved the Torre della Magione
buildingsbodily; thus he successfully
at Bologna,and Paul is said, onlya fewhoursbeforehis death,to have
been consultinghim on the removalof the obeliskfromthe Neronian
Circusto the Piazza of St. Peter's.2
1 I had presumedthatarx mustreferto the Castel Sant' Angelo. But Dr. Ashby
'
'
pointsout that condidit wouldhardlyapplyto Paul's work,whateverit mayhave been,
on thatfortress,
and thatthePalazzo Vneto,with its towers,mayfairlybe describedas
an ' arx.'
2 Martiori,
Ann. della Zecca di Roma,Paolo II. p. 7.
23
- goingback as faras the secondeditionof Vasari,1568Tradition

says that BartolommeoBellano of Padua made a medal of Paul. It is
resemblance
to findinanyofthemedalsofthePope theslightest
impossible
in styleto the onlymedalswhichcan reasonablybe assignedto Bellano,
thoseof AntonioRoselliand BartolommeoCepola;x and Vasari's state"
mentmaybe dismissedas one ofthe " infinite
bugie withwhich,in the
he crammedhis secondedition.
wordsofa contemporary,
di GeremiaofMantuawe undoubtedly
On theotherhand,in Cristoforo
have the authorof a numberof medalsof the Pope, as well as of other
persons,and an artistof considerableinterest,if unevenmerit.2
The date of his birthis uncertain; he was already in Rome by
1456,thoughhe did notseverhis relationswithMantua,whichhe visited
occasionallyin connexionwithworkas jewellerforthe Gonzaga. His
patronin Rome was at firstthe famousCardinalLdovico Mezzarotaor
Scarampl. The medal of this prelate(PL II. 4), withits finelycharacterisedprofile,is not unworthyto stand beside Mantegna'sportraitin
the Berlin Gallery. The reverse,with militaryprocession,and the
mottoesE celestarestituaand ex alto,refersto his activityas generalof
resemblance
ofthe medalbearssufficient
the Church. The workmanship
of its
attribution
Rossi's
to
Cristoforo
of
works
to the signed
justify
was
the
artist
that
authorshipto him,whichis a prioriprobable,seeing
in the cardinal'sservice.3
When Scarampidied on 22 March,1465,Paul seized a greatpart of
his possessions,and, as a very natural consequence,Cristoforowent
over to the Papal service. In 1468 he restoredthe bronze statue of
MarcusAurelius. Thereis recordof paymentsto the artistin 1469 for
medals forthe foundationsof the Palazzo di S. Marco,as well as for
of the church. Further,his
artilleryfor the defenceof the fortresses
that
Raphael MaffeiofVolterra,says in the Commentaries
contemporary,
he made a medal of the Pope. Now amongthe medalsof Paul thereis
the medal of
a wholegroupresembling
verycloselyin styleand lettering
a See Burlington
Magazine,xxiv. (1914) P- 211 forthis attribution. The arguments
of medalsof Paul to Bellano are givenin my paper in the Num.
attribution
the
against
is unnecessaryhere to discussthe baseless guessesof Gualdo,
It
cited.
Chron.above
whichhave receivedmoreattentionthantheydeserve.
s Allgeis given in Thieme-Becker
A summaryof his career,with bibliography,
meinesLexikon,s.v. Cristoforo.
8 On the groundsforthe attribution,
see Fabriczy,I tal. Medals (trans.Hamilton),
p. 156.
24
Scarampi; theyare even of the same diameter,an itemwhichmay be

allowed to count with the rest of the evidence. These medals1commemorateamong otherthingsthe foundationof a building(has aedes)
in 1470 (probablyin the Vatican); the foundationof the house of the
2
Pope's physicianJacopo Gottifredoin the Piazza di Pasquino ; and
the workon the Tribuneof St. Peter's,concerningwhichentriesfirst
appearin 1470,the date on the medal (PL II. 6). We need not,I think,
hesitateto assignthe wholeofthisgroupofmedalsto Cristoforo.All the
in
obversesare fromessentiallythe same model,whichhas been modified
variousways. It is a powerfulportrait; but it makes it clear that
Paul was afterall wise in takingthe advice of the Sacred Collegeon
his electionnot to assume the nameFormosus. There is also a small
describingPaul as Stablisherof
groupofoval medalswithan inscription
the Peace of Italy (i.e.,the Peace of February,1468 or that of 22 Dec,
1470) ; they bear a remarkablycharacteristicportraitof which the
hand (PL III. 1).
originalmodelmaywellbe fromCristoforo's
is
familiar
who
Roman
with
Imperialcoins will not fail to
Anyone
recognisein these medals of Paul II. (excludingthe oval pieces) a
deliberateassimilationto the brass sestertiiof the early Empire. The
breath of antiquitywas already beginningto affectthe style'of the
ifit had failedto do so in Rome,
medal,and indeedit wouldbe surprising
of all places.
The medalsof the Pope, however,are of muchless importancethan
the two signedpieces whichwe have next to consider. One of them
Alfonsothe Magnanimousof Aragn,who died in
(PL IV. 3) represents
1458 ; but it was not, accordingto the view that holds the field,done
fromthe life. This was already conjecturedby Friedlnderon the
ofMantegna. It is interestgroundofits style,whichshowstheinfluence
that Cristoforo
may have come into contactwiththe
ing to remember
to
one
of
his
visits
Mantua3
orat thetime(about1459according
on
painter
to Kristeller)whentheBerlinportraitofCardinalMezzarotawas painted.
whichhe considersto
Now Fabriczy*has noted a curiouscircumstance
bear out the theoryof a posthumousdate. In 1468 Clementof Urbino
1 Nos. 15-26 on PI. XII. in the articlein the Num. Chron.above cited.
2 Cp. Lanciani, Storia degli Scavi di R,oma,i. 74.
3 Mantegnais firstknownto have been in communication

withLodovico Gonzaga
to earliernegotiations
(Kristeller,
by a letterof Jan.5, 1457,referring
Mantegna,p. 182).
4 Ital. Medals,p. 157.
The Roman Medallists' of the Renaissance.
25
made a medal of the Count Federigoof Montefeltro,

wearinga sumptuously decorated cuirass. Now the cuirass worn by Alfonso on
medal is exactlysimilarto that of Federigo; and not only
Cristoforo's
of the draperyis so exactly similar
the cuirass,but the arrangement
thatwe are, it would seem,bound to concludethat one artisthas been
copyingfromanother. Fabriczyargues that the copyingcannot have
been by Clement,since Federigowould have consideredit beneath his
dignityto be representedwearingAlfonso'sarmouras it is given on
medal. He urgesthatwe cannotassumethattheresemblance
Cristoforo's
is due merelyto Federigo'shavinginheritedthe armourafterAlfonso's
death; sincenot onlythe armour,but even the cast of the drapery,is
exactlyalike on both medals. His argumentseemsto me preposterous.
and so poorin execution,
The medalby Clementis so dulland uninspired,
that it is difficult
to suppose,that such a finelycharacteristic
portraitas
work
Cristoforo's
owes even the detailsof the armourto it. Cristoforo's
has all the air ofbeingdonefromthe life,or,ifit is copied,thenofbeing
lessmediocrethanClement'smedal.1 The original
copiedfromsomething
of
mayin thatcase wellhave been a bust in the round,as the treatment
the bust on the medal suggests.2
medal
It seems then most reasonableto concludethatCristoforo's
dates fromthe last yearsofAlfonso'slife(by whichtimethe artistwould
already have been acquainted with Mantegna,or at any rate with his
works)or fromsoon afterhis death; that Federigoinheritedthe suit
ofarmourin questionfromAlfonso; and that Clementtook a shortcut
to what he thought was success-by copying Cristoforo'smedal in
respectofthe cuirassand drapery.
of anotherelementin the
As regardsthe borrowingby Cristoforo
In placingthe crownin
doubt.
be
no
compositiontherecan, however,
its curiouspositionunderthe bust he has followedPisanello,who used
in two of his medals of Alfonso. AnotherMantuan
this arrangement
III.
artist,Melioli,also followedtheexample,in his medalof Christiern
of
Alfonsois a lively composition the
The reverseof Cristoforo's
one
coronationof the kingby Mars and Bellona (but forthe inscription
1 Fabriczy'ssuggestionthat Cristoforo
followedPaolo da Ragusa's medalof Alfonso
forthe featuresseemsto me to be verywideof the mark.
2 This treatmentof the bust,whichFriedlanderhas already,observed,was followed
I. of Denmark
by later Mantuanmedallists,as by Melioliin his portraitsof Christiern
and FrancescoTU. Gonzaga,and by Rubertoin his portraitof the latterprince.
26
would have identified

the goddessas Victory). The suggestionalready
made that this medal was knownto later Mantuanartistsis borneout
by the factthat a figureof Marsin muchthe same attitude,but forthe
rightarm, is foundon a medal of the school of l'Anticorepresenting
Luca Zuharis.
The reverseis signed CHRISTOPHORVS HIERIMIA ; on the
next medal to be considered the signature is given more fully,
CHRISTOPHORVS HIERIMIAE . F., in which,as Friedlnder
remarks,
F maystandeitherforFilius or Fecit; in eithercase, Geremiamusthave
been the artist'sfather'sname.
The medal of Constantinethe Great (long wronglysupposed to
represent
Augustus)is not so finea workof art as the Alfonso,but it is
full of interest(PI. IV. 2).1 The portraitis undoubtedlymeant for
Constantine. The inscription,
it would appear, is a not too intelligent
of
some
ancient
such as that on the Ponte S.
adaptation
inscription,
Bartolommeo in honour of Valentinian I., Valens and Gratian.
Cristoforo'swordingis Caesar ImperatorPont(ifex)P.P.P. et semper
Augustusvir. All the elementsof this, except the ratherabsurd vir,
can be pickedout ofsuchan inscription
as thatwhichI have mentioned;
in the RomanoriginalP.P.P. standsforPaterPatriae,Proconsul. What
Cristoforo
thoughtthe lettersmeant,I hesitateto conjecture. But they
have an interestforus in connexionwithanothermedal,representing
CosimoVecchio,whidi has been attributedon groundsof styleto the
sameartist. The inscription
inthiscase is MagnusCosmusMedicesP.P.P.
Othervarietiesof the same medal read CosmusMedicesdecreto
publico
P.P., referring
obviouslyto the titlepaterpatriaewhichwas conferred
on Cosimoafterhis deathin 1465. Thesemedalsraisevariousinteresting
questionswhichdo not concernus here; but the occurrenceof these
threemysterious
lettersis a slightconfirmation
of the attribution
of one
*
at least of the piecesto Cristoforo
is right,the
; and if that attribution
suggestionmade by the late J. de Foville,that the beautifulportraitin
the Uffiziascribedto Botticelli,of a youngman holdinga specimenof
the medal with P.P.P., representsCristoforohimself,becomes very
attractive. Cristoforo
was in FlorencewithScarampiin 1462,whenhe
1 I have discussedit in the Attie MemoriedelVIstituto
ii (1915)
Italianodi Numistn.,
as to the portraitand otherdetailswill
pp 257-261,whereBaron de Cosson'ssuggestions
be foundfullyworkedout.
27
may have modelledCosimo'slikeness,even if he did not make a medal

at the time. If, as the analogyof the Constantinemedal suggests,the
then the medal of
artistused his Latin abbreviationsunintelligently,
all
no
allusion
to his posthumous
after
Cosimowith P. P. P. may
carry
title of Pater Patriae, and may have been made duringhis lifetime,
possiblyin 1462.
But this is a side issue,and we have not yet describedthe reverse
of the medal of Constantine. Besidesthe artist'ssignature,it bears the
; in the fieldare the lettersS.C.
inscriptionConcordiaAugg(ustorum)
ofRomancoins). The Emperor,laureateand togate,
(theSenatusConsulto
holdsa caduceusin his lefthand,and withhis rightgraspsthe hand ofa
veiled femalefigurewho holds a cornucopiae. Certainobscure signs
as the letters
betweenthe arms of the caduceus have been interpreted
PAX ; thisis, however,verydoubtful.
of thisgroupwhichsuggesteditselfto a contemThe interpretation
little
is
there
doubt,was the medallistGuaccialottihimself,
who,
porary,
the
is thatit symbolises peace oftheChurch. Forin thetimeofSixtusIV.
he made a medalwitha portraitof that Pope (inscribedSixtus P(a)p(a)
and providedit with a reversewhichis a mere
IIII. urbisrenovator)
of Cristoforo's
rifacimento
design (PI. IV. 4).1 In the exerguehe has
theveiledfigureas theChurch;
placedthewordEcclesia,thusidentifying
aroundthe groupis Concor.el amatorpad. Pon. Max.
and the inscription
P.P.P., whichI take to be an attemptat AmatorConcordiaeet Pads,
PontifexMaxitnus,etc.2 It is truethatthereis no parallelto the cornuof allegorical
copiae as an attributeof the Church,but in the borrowing
fromclassicalart we cannotdemandtoo greatexactitudein such
figures
mattersfromthe medallistsof the fifteenth
century. We shall see that
the
Church
is confirmed
the
as
of
the interpretation
by another
figure
medal,producedin 1489 (p. 40).
1 It has beenthoughtthatthismedalis a modernconcoction,
ofan obverse
consisting
reverse. But thereexists no otheroriginal
by Guaccialottisurmoulwith Cristoforo's
couldhaveused. I know
portraitbyGuaccialottion thisscale whichthemodernfabricator
in the Victoriaand Albert Museum. A specimenis illustratedin
onlythe reproduction
the S. Pozzi Catalogue(Paris,28 juin, 1919,lot 813) ; but I understandthat it is very
much re-touched.Armandwishedto attributethe workto Lysippus; but, when he
wrote,practicallyno criticalattentionhad beendevotedto thatartist.
1 The description
is so inapplicableto the mostpugnaciousof Popes,thatit mustbe
eitherironicalor official. For a similarlyclumsyorderof words,compareConcordia
AugustaConsultiVenetiqueSenatus on a medal of Pasquale Malipieroby Guidizani,
Magazine,xii. (1907) p. 148.
Burlington
28
Peace
the Constantinian
medal commemorates
If, then,Cristoforo's
ofthe Church,whatwas its immediateoccasion? I can thinkofnothing
moreappropriatethan the visk to Rome of the EmperorFrederickIII.
at Christmas,1468, the last occasionon whicha Roman Emperorwas
seen in Rome. In later days a medal would most undoubtedlyhave
beenissuedby thePope to commemorate
suchan event; and oneactually
exists,probablyfromthehandoftheFlorentine
Bertoldo,commemorating
Frederick'screationofa numberofknightson Jan. 1, 1469. It is hardly
likelythat the leadingRoman medallistof the timewouldhave missed
suchan opportunity.
Two or threeothermedalswhichhave been attributedto Cristoforo
di Geremiamustbe mentionedbeforewe part withhim. One of them
(PI. III. 3) representsGuillaumed'Estouteville,of whom,as we have
alreadyseen, a medal was probablymade by Guaccialottiat an earlier
date. Since the sitteris describedas Bishop of Ostia, the portraitis
not earlierthan 1461. The renderingof the featuresis entirelyin the
styleofthe medalsof Paul II. whichwe have seen reasonto attributeto
Cristoforo.And the bust, thoughit does not take the exact formof
those of Alfonsoand Constantine,is yet sharplypointed,and has the
truncation
treatedin sucha way as to suggestan actual bronzesculpture.
The reverseis the Cardinal'scoat of arms. A verysimilartreatmentof
the bust characterises
a remarkableportraitmedal (PI. I. 4) ofa Paduan
condottiere(DottusPatavus milicieprefetus),generallyidentifiedwith
GiambattistaDotti,who foughtin the serviceof the Venetiansand was
killed in 1513 fightingagainst the Spaniards near Vicenza. Assumwho died in 1476^
ing, however,that the medal is by Cristoforo,
the identification
of the sittermust be wrong,since he appears to
be of an advanced age, and certainlycould not have been on active
serviceat least 37 yearsafterthe medalwas made. De Foville more
about
reasonablyidentifiesthe sitteras Paolo Dotti, who flourished
1466.1
It is extremelyprobablethat this medal and thatofthe Cardinal
ofRouenare by thesamehand,and thatwould seem to be Cristoforo's.
That the medal of Dotti is not laterthanthe early'seventiesis clearfrom
the following
considerations.The typeof the reverseis a figureof Constancy,restingher leftelbow on a columnand herrighthandon a spear.
1 B. Scardeonius,de antiquitate
UrbisPatavii (Basel, 1560) p. 302.
29
The reverseof the medal of Costanza Bentivoglio,1

probablymade on
the occasionof hermarriage,1473,is a merereproduction
by castingof
the Constantiaof the Dotti medal. The same type, on a largerscale,
and moreroughlyexecuted,appears on a medal of GirolamoSantucci,
Bishop of Fossombrone(13 Oct., 1469 to 25 July,1494), which is
certainlyby a Florentinehand.2 The comparativeroughnessof the
treatmentsuggeststhatit is copiedfromthe medalof Dotti, or perhaps
even fromthe reverseof Guaccialotti'sSixtus IV., of 1481, which is
itselfa copy of the Dotti reverse (PL I. 5). A freerversionof the
same original(withthe columnconvertedinto a bundleof arrows,and
an arrowsubstitutedfora spear)appears as the reverseof a medal of
Maria Poliziana.3
with the little
A thirdattribution,
whichwould credit Cristoforo
medal (PL III. 4) of Marcello Capodiferro,' Mercurialiumhospes
in 1478,seemsto me to have
virorum,'one of the Roman Conservatori
and modellingit seems
littleto be said forit ; in conception,
composition
to me to have no more than a superficialresemblanceto Cristoforo's
ofhis.4
work,thoughit maybe the productofa youngercontemporary
who died before22 Feb., 1476, and
We may now leave Cristoforo,
returnto deal with the remainingmedals of Paul II. 's reign.6 The
Pope's favouritejewellerwas Andrea di Niccolo da Viterbo,of whom
documentsmake mentionfrom22 Sept., 1464 to 1 Apr., 1475.6 Zippel
has already suggestedthat he may have been employedas medallist,
seeingthat from12 Dec, 1464, to 5 Aug., 1468, he was Masterof the
7 of
Mint. As such he, or his colleague,Emilianodi PierMatteoOrfini
Foligno,would have been responsiblefor the dies of the great struck
a Public Consistory,
medal commemorating
probablythat of 23 Dec,
was
condemned
Podiebrad
at
which
(Fig. 2).8 This piece,
George
1466,
1 Heiss,Mdailleurs,
Florence,i. p. 54, PI. IV. 4.
Heiss, op. cit.p. 54, PI. IV. 5. He wronglygives the date of Santucci'selection
as 1474.
to the see of Fossombrone
1 Burlington
Magazine,xxxi. (1917), p. 101,fig.A.
4 Armandoriginally
datedit to theperiod1500-25,beforehe knew(iii.178C) thatthe
as earlyas 1478. I mayadd thathe was maestrodi strada
manwas oneoftheConservatori
in 1488 (E. Rodocanachi,Romeau tempsde JulesII., etc.,p. 221,note).
5 For details,see, as before,Numism.Chron.(1910).
6 G. Zippel,Le Vitedi Paolo II. (in the new ed. of Muratori,R.I.S., III. pt. xvi.
1904)pp. 191-2.
7 The nameis givenas Orsiniby Zippel,loc.cit.,but otherwritersagree in the form
8 FromNum. Chron.(1910) p. 345.
Orfini.
3o
nearly3 inches in diameter,was a remarkableachievementfor the

of the time; probablyveryfewspecimenswere struck,
coining-presses
and those on very thin flans. The reliefis very low, and indeed the
of thosedays wouldnot have been adequate to anythingelse.
machinery
withthe Pope presiding. On the otheris
On one side is the Consistory,
Christin gloryon the Last Day, withthe Saints,theApostles,the Virgin
and St. JohnBaptist,and the dead risingfromtheirgraves. A specimen
of this in gold was givenin 1497 by AlexanderVI. to Boguslav X. of
Pomerania; and anotheror the same gold piece has been describedby
of this medal
Armandas a coin of twentyducats. Cast reproductions
are common.
There is a remarkableresemblancein letteringbetweenthis piece
and a large cast and chased medal of the Pope, withhis arms on the
reverse,which bears clear tracesof having been made by a jeweller
a characto boundthe inscriptions,
(PI. IV. 1). The use of cable-circles
teristicof jeweller'swork,is foundboth on this largemedal and on the
sevensuppliants,
bullaofPaul II., whichshowsthePope receiving
perhaps
thefamilyofthe exileddespotof the Morea,ThomasPalaeologus. Casts
fromthisbulla, whichwould in the ordinarycoursehave been designed
to themint,wereworkedup intomedallicform(PI. III. 2).
bytheengravers
The evidenceofthe jeweller'stechniquecombinedwithwhatwe know of
Andreada Viterboseemsto me to warranttheconjecturethathe maybe
medal,the largecast medal,and the bulla
responsibleforthe Consistory
and the medalsmade fromit.
In the reignofSixtusIV. (147-1484) Guaccialottireappearson the
scene,thoughnot,so faras we know,before1481. The sensationcaused
in the Christianworldby the Turkishseizureof Otrantoin July,1480,
was a measureof the reliefwhichwas felt when it was recoveredin
Septemberof the next year by the youngDuke of Calabria. Alfonso
was in commandof combinedPapal and Neapolitantroops; but it was
the death of MohammadII. and the ensuingcivil war, ratherthan any
effortsof his, that liberatedItalian soil fromthe Turkishinvaders.
Guaccialottimade three medals in connexionwith this event. One
the Pope (PI. I. 5)- a fair,but not vigorousportrait. On the
represents
- a nudefemalefigureleaning
reverseis an allegoricalfigureofConstantia
on a columnand restingher righthand on a longstaff. At herfeetare
- partlyby engraving
- Turkishprisoners,arms and galleys.
represented
Fig. 2.- The Consistory Medal of Paul
II.
See pp. 30 f.
31
32
Acrossthe fieldis engravedthe date, MCCCCLXXXI ; and the mottois

Parceresubiectiset dbellaresuperbosSixtepotes. Interestingin many
; and one feelsthat the figure
ways,the medal is not an inspiredeffort
of Constantiais hardlyappropriateto the conductof Sixtusin the crisis.
This figureof Constantia,her slightdrapery,the columnon which
she leans,her spearor sceptre,even the wordConstantiain the exergue,
are all closelymodelledon the similarfigureand inscription
on thereverse
of the medal of Dotti alreadydescribed. It would even seem that the
copyinghas been done mechanically,i.e., by taking an impression.1
If the medalofDotti is by Cristoforo
di Geremia,as that of Sixtusis, by
the
work
of
admission,
Guaccialotti,thenwe have a veryclear
general
of
case plagiarism. But, as we have seen and shall see, it would be by
no meansan isolatedcase. On the strength
of the resemblance
between
the two figuresthe medalof Dotti used to be attributedto Guaccialotti;
but it shows a power of characterisation
of which the Tuscan was
hardlycapable.
Guaccialottiused the reverseof his medal of Sixtus, with the
alterationof the singleword SIXTE to ALFOS, and the additionof a
in the lefthand of the figure,forthe reverseof a medal of
palm-branch
the victoriousDuke of Calabria. The portraiton the obverse(PI. I. 6),
treatedwithfairsuccessin three-quarter
facje,is one of the artist'sfew
best exampleon any Italian
in
the
strokes.
It
some
is,
ways,
original
whichmostartistsavoidedbecauseofits obvious
medalofsuchtreatment,
difficulties.For a second medal with the same obverse Guaccialotti
inventedwhatis easilyhismostinteresting
design(PI. I. 6). It represents
the.triumphalentryof Alfonsointo Otranto; the Duke ridesin a high
and trumpeters,
car, precededby horsemen,footsoldiers
drivingbefore
the
a
of
themTurkishprisonersthrough gate
city; beyondthe gate are
a lion'shead fountainand the forepartof a wolfrisingout bf the water.
- are Neapolis victrixabove; 2 below,
The inscriptiOfEStall engrave*!
1 The same processmay have been employedin Guaccialotti
's otherborrowings
;
close t Pjsanellovsto have been
thushis groupof the Pelicanra her Piety is Sufficiently
made by workingup an impression.
1 This mightseemto identify
thecityas Naples,but notnecessarily
so. Mostwriters
have shirkedthe questionwhichcity is represented.If Berzeviczy(Beatriced'Aragn,
the fountainas the ' Hungarianfountain/the capture
i. p. 194) is rightin identifying
of whichby Hungarianscaused thefallof the city,therecan be no doubtthatOtrantois
intended; and thisis a prioriprobable.
of the Renaissance.
33
or Italiaque restituaand the date on a

ob Italiam ac fidemrestitutam
tablet held by two little genii; and below that the signatureOpus
And(reae)G{uaccialoti)Pratenses). This medal again gives evidenceof
the artist'shabit of takingwhat he thoughtgood wherehe foundit ; a
in the processionis liftedbodily,as the late Mr. P. H. C.
groupoffigures
Allen observed,fromthe reverseof Cristoforodi Geremia'smedal of
Lodovico Scarampi(PL II. 4). Beginningearly,as we have seen,with
a loan fromPisanello,Guaccialottidevotedparticularattentionto the
ideas providedby medals whichare all certainlyor probablythe work
of Cristoforo
di Geremia. Since it would appear that Guaccialottiwas
was employedthere,it
out of favourat the Papal CourtwhenCristoforo
wouldseemthatthiswas an amiablemethodof takinghis revengeon his
rival. It is a kindof revengethatcomeshometo roostwhenthe.critics
get to work.
Guaccialottiis not heard of again in Rome, althoughhe survived
until 1494 or 1495, his name being mentionedin the accounts of the
CanonsofPratoin 1494,but missingin 1496. In spiteofhisquestionable
made by
attitudeto the artisticpropertyof otherpeople,the impression
his medalsis thatofa pleasingbut notbrilliantcraftsman.
ofthe reignof SixtusIV, we know
medallist1
Of themostinteresting
'
verylittle,not even, it would seem his real name. For Lysippusthe
Younger/ Avaunros o verepos,is apparentlya pseudonymassumed
by this veryattractiveartist. RaffaelMaffeiof Volterrain his Comof Mantua made a portrait
mentariiUrbani2aftersayingthatCristoforo
'
numismate
II
medalofPaul (iconico
expressit)adds : Lysippusvero eius
'
neposadolescensXistumiiii.' The marginhas thenote LysippusIunior.'
This is the sole externalrecordof the artistthathas survived. But we
have his signatureon two medals. One representsthe poet Martinus
Philethicus,Poet Laureate and Knightand Count Palatine, a man of
letterswho was a Professorof Greekin Rome in 1473 ; thisis signedon
the reverse"EpyouAvaLinrovêorepov (PL III. 5)- The type is the
s
Pelican in her Piety, copied (eitherdirect,or throughGuaccialotti'
other
medal
The
Feltre.
da
Vittorino
Pisanello's
Pius II.) from
(now
knownonlyfroma seventeenth
givesa bustofa young
centuryengraving)
1 For a detailed discussionof the work of Lysippus,with full illustrations,see
ibid.vol. xvi.
Magazine,vol. xiii [Aug. 1908)pp. 274-286 ; otherattributions,
Burlington
xxxiv.p. 1.
Berichte,
Oct. 1909)pp. 25-26 ; BerlinAmtliche
2 T5O6,lib. xxi. p. ccc, v.
I)
34
man in the clerical dress and cap of the time- Iul(ius) Maras(cha)
optim(ae)indol(is)adol(escens). On the reverse,in a wreath,is the dedicationLysippusamicoOptimo.These two medalsare the basis on which
it has been possible to construct,îth considerablesecurity,a large
fabricof conjecturalattributions.1The sittersare apparentlyalmost
- one or two highdignitaries,
such as
all frequenters
of the Papal Court
RaffaelRiario,Cardinalof St. George(PL III. 7, dated 1478),but forthe
mostpartyoungscholars,suchas the brilliantMilaneselawyerand poet,
GiovanniAlvise Toscani, who was in the serviceof Sixtus and died in
1475 (PL VI. 1), or minorclerics.Thereis a finemedalof RaffaelMaffei
apparentlyfromthe hand of Lysippus,whichwe may take as repaying
the artist'sdebt to the scholarforhavinggiven to posteritythe only
record of himself. His style is easily recognisedby certain marked
characteristics.He inheritedfromhis uncle a fondnessfora bust with
a hollowed-outtruncation,sharplypointedin front.2A carefulstudy
madehima masteroflettering,
and no
of Romanmonumental
inscriptions
medallisthas surpassedhimin such a problemas settingout an inscrip- amountingalmost
tionwithina formalwreath. A favouriteornament
- used by him is a stalk withtwo leaves,apparentlyof a
to a signature
of
kind
poplar. His scholarlyconnexionsexplain his fondnessfor
of the charmingmedal of Malitia de Gesualda
Greek; the inscriptions
of
Rapolla, 1482-8) are entirelyin that language
(afterwardsbishop
(PL V. 1).
By farthe mostimportantof the medalswhichcan withcertainty
be attributedto thismostpleasingartistis anonymous(PL VI. 3). But
it is easy to guesswho is portrayed. The youth,wearingthe roundcap
and close fittingdressof the clerkof the day, can be no otherthan the
artisthimself. For the inscriptionsays : di la il bel viso e qui il tuo
servomira: i.e. :
' This side the likenessof
yourslave displays;
Turnme,yourownfairfacewillmeetyourgaze/
The reverseis plain, and must have been intendedto be polishedas
1 The lettersL.P. whichoccurin the fieldof twomedalsof Toscanineednot be his
signature; forotherletters(B M, S M) are used by himin preciselythesameway(Regling,
AmtlicheBerichte,loc. cit.).
* Sometimes,
to Cristoforo
as in thebustofDottiattributed
(PI. I. 4), witha projection
in the middleof the hollow.
of the Renaissance.
35
a mirror. It is a prettycompliment,
conveyedby one ofthemostcharming medalsin the whole Italian series. Very pleasingalso, thoughless
Giovanni Alvise
ingenious,are the medals of the already-mentioned
Toscani (PI. VI. 1 and III. 6), or thoseof the scholarand tutorof Ferdinand the Catholic,FranciscoVidal of Noya in Galicia; indeed there
are fewof Lysippus'medalswhichhave not a sincerityand friendliness
whichmakeone regretthe lack ofall personalrecordsofhis life.
As to the medal of Sixtus IV. whichhe made, therecan I thinkbe
the rebuildingof the
little doubt that it is the one commemorating
Ponte Sisto,whichwas begunon 29 April,1473. (PL V. 2.) It musthave
beenthismedalofwhichspecimensin goldwereplacedin thefoundations
on that day.1 The Pope's bust has not the characteristic
truncation,
himwearingcope and
but that is owingtc the necessityof representing
morse. But the reverseis absolutelyLysippean; that is clear fromthe
formal wreath, and the
admirable lettering,the well-proportioned
in
the
one
of
ofthemedalsofToscani
the
water
of
exactly
style
rendering
to
to
(PL III. 6). Fabriczyproposed attribute Lysippusa medal representingthe-coronationof the Pope by two saints,with the inscription
Hec damnsin terris,aeternadabunturOlimpo(PL V. 3).?iBut neitherin
- the design owes its
composition,nor in lettering,nor in conception
it is true,to the medal of Alfonsoof Aragnby Lysippus'
inspiration,
uncle- can I see anythingto remindus of the accreditedworkof the
artist.
Anothermedallistof notewhowas engagedto portraySixtusIV. was
the VenetianVettorGambello(or Camelius,as he Latinizedhis name).
witha reverseadapted from
His medal3 is a workof smallimportance,
the Pope's
di Geremia'smedalsofPaul II., representing
one ofCristoforo
Audience(PL V. 4). It may possibly,as de Fovillesuggests,have been
betweenVenice and the Pope in 1482.
made duringthe understanding
of Sixtus is a curiouslittlepiece
medal
other
The only
contemporary
apparentlymade to the order of his nephew,Giuliano della Rovere,
of the fortress
afterwards
JuliusII. (PL V. 5). Round a representation
is
the
reverse
the
on
of Ostia
Iul(ianus) Card(inalis)Nepos
inscription
in Ostio Tiberino,showingthat the medal was made at Ostia between
1 Infessura, ed. Tommasini, p. 76.
* Tres, de Num., Md. I tal. i. PL XXIV. 3.
* Friedlnder,Ital. Schaumnzen,PL XVII. ; J. de Foville in Rev. de I' Art anc. et mod.
xxxii. p. 276.
D 2
36
1471, when Giulianowas promotedCardinal,and 1484, when Sixtus

died. We mayfixit moreexactlyto 1483,whenBaccio Pontellibegan
to build the Castle for Giuliano,1and specimensof this medal were
doubtless laid in the foundations. It is one of a small, strongly
characterized
but artisticallyunimportant
groupofmedals.2
a certainnumberof medalsmade
Round Lysippusgroupthemselves
in Rome whichcannotbe attributedto any knownartist. The medal
of GuglielmoBatonatti (PI. VIL 1)3 has some of the externalcharacteristicsof Lysippus'style,but lacks his intimatetouch. The pose and
treatmentof the bust,and the wreathon the reverse(enclosinga design
of a unicorn,surmounted
by a tau cross,emblematicof Christianpurity)
are externalities
suggestedby the earliermaster'swork. It showsalso
tracesof Florentineinfluence.
of the Roman Church,was
Ascanio Mario Sforza,vice-chancellor
born in 1445, became bishop of Pavia on 20 Sept.,1479, cardinalof S.
Vito and S. Modestinin 1484. He died on 28 May, 1505. The medal
ofhim4 (PI. VII. 3) has been attributedby Friedlnderto Caradosso,who
is supposedto have been introducedby theCardinalto thePapal Court5 ;
but as Fabriczypointsout the attributionis not entirelyborneout by
ofthe Roman
the styleand lettering. It describeshimas vice-chancellor
laterthan 11 Aug., 1492.6 On the reverseis a
Church,and is therefore
femalefigureholdinga torch,and about to throwincenseon a burning
as it is generally
altar; above is the arch of heaven (hardlya rainbow;,
described)withrays and flamesissuingfromit. The legendis Sacer est
locus,ite prophani,and the altar is inscribedIDEM. This cannotrefer
ofthe Cathedralof Pavia in 1488,forthe chronological
to the foundation
reasonalreadyindicated. For the same reasonwe cannotaccept J. de
Foville's attributionto Lysippus,7since thereis no evidencethat the
artistwas workingso late as the ninetiesof the fifteenth
century. But
1 The inscription
in AttiPont. Accad.Arch.Ser. I. vol. xv.
on thekeep (Guglielmotti
p. 48) saysthathe began it in thetime of Sixtus IV. {i.e. before1484)and finishedit in
i486 underInnocentVIII.
2 By the same hand are the medalwiththe same typeforthe reverse,and a portrait
of Giulianohimself(PI. V. 6), and one of the FlorentineFrancescode' Bonsi, dated 1484.
See Burlington
Magazine,xxx. (1917) p. 191
8 Burlington
Magazine,vol. xii. (1907) p. 149.
4 Arm.ii. ss, 8 : Friedlnder,
PI. XXXVI.
6 Infessura,ed. Tommasini,p. 281.
6 Fabriczy,p. 169.
7 Rev.Num. (1913)pp. 547 ff.
of the Renaissance.
37
ofLysippus,
we mayadmitthatthepieceshowssometracesoftheinfluence
ofthe reverse.
as in the lettering
and in the composition
MoreofthequalityofLysippusis to be foundin a medalof Diomede
Cajaffa(PL VII. 2) and in that one.of FranciscoVidal whichdescribes
the sitteras Ingeniidoctrinae
principiumctculmen
leporisqueac probitatis
that
his
to
manner
VII.
so
are
close
manywould hardly
4)1
(PI.
they
hesitateto givethemto theartisthimself. The sameis trueofthelarger
of the two medalswhichgive us the portraitof the medallistGiovanni
Candida (Fig. 3).2 This is a work of
great beauty, broad and sympathetic
in its treatment,
and perhapsfinerthan
anythingelse attributedto Lysippus.
of
In the proportionand arrangement
the letteringwithregardto the bust it
differs
fromthat artist'swork,and the
resemblances
whichit does showto it are
easilyexplainedon the groundthat the
author of it, perhaps Candida himself,
came under the influenceof Lysippus,
if he was not actuallyhis pupil. The
smallermedal of Candida,on the other
hand,showsno traceofthe elderartist's
Fig. 3.- Giovanni Candida.
influence(PI. VII. 5). On this piece
Candida is a youthof about seventeen
or eighteenyears,and he mayhave made it himselfbeforehe knewthe
workof Lysippus.
GiovanniCandida*was ofNeapolitanbirth,but cameyoungto Rome,
and had a succesfuldiplomaticcareer. He was stillquiteyoungwhenhe
wentto Flanders,wherehe is knownto have been secretaryto the Duke
mainlyspentin
of Burgundyfrom1472 to 1479. His lifewas henceforth
medallist.
Roman
a
as
count
can
Flandersor France,so that he
hardly
that he
Rome
to
But it musthave been on one of his diplomaticvisits
in style,withthe portraits
made the finemedal, so broad and dignified
1 Burl.Mag., xiii. (1908) p. 280, PI. III. 4 and 5. CompareCandida'smedalofNicolas
2 Froma photographkindlysuppliedby the late M. GustaveDreyfus.
Ruter.
3 H. de la Tour in RevueNumism.(1894, 1895). Otherreierences
in inieme-cecKcr,
Lexikon. On Candida at the Court of Burgundy,see V. Tourneurin Rev.
Allgemeines
, 1914 [1919]pp. 381-411 ; 1919,pp. 7-48, 251-300.
Beigede Numism.
38
of Clementeand Giulianodella Rovere (PL VI. 4). A medal of Gianfrancescodella Rovere,grand-nephew

of JuliusII., has been attributed
to him by Fabriczy; but since the sitteris describedas governorof
Castel Sant' Angeloand bishopofTurin,and theportraitcannottherefore
be earlierthan 1504,the attribution
is not veryprobable,sinceCandida
is notheardofafter1504and all hisworkin theyearsprecedingwas done
in thenorthof France.1
Duringthe periodwithwhichwe have just teen dealing,the Flothe greatnamein whichis Niccolo
rentineschoolofmedallicportraiture,
had beencomingintoprominence.
di ForzoreSpinelli(NiccolFiorentino),
shouldbe feltin Rome,evenifFlorentine
It was naturalthatitsinfluence
artistsdid not actually come thither. It is clearlyseen in the larger
medal of GirolamoCallagrani(the smallermedal of this man is by
Lysippus),on whichhe is describedas privatechamberlainof Innocent
VIII. (PI. VI. 6). Callagraniis firstheard of in that capacityin Sept.,
filledthe post untilhe becamebishopof Mondovi
1484,2and presumably
1 I suppose that the medal referredto by Fabriczy (p. 165) is that describedby
della
ii. 106,22), whichhas on theobversethebustofGianfrancesco
Armand(Mdailleurs,
and
of JuliusII. (Io. Fran. Ruvereeps. Taur. arcisHadri.Prefect.),
Rovere,grand-nephew
on thereversethe curioustypeof a genius,carryinga bracteh,
flyingtowardan oak-tree
beforewhichis a buttingbull, withthe mottoGlans GeniusTaurus singuladictaIovi,
the date has been
and the date 1498. (On theViennaspecimen,whichis a bad after-cast,
removed; see Tres,de Num.,Md. ital. ii. Pi. XXVIII. Nos. 1, 2. The same is trueof a
specimenin the Paris Cabinethereillustrated,PI. I. 7, forlack of access to an original).
withthe obverse(whichcannotbe earlierthan
This reverseis chronologically
incompatible
1504),and seemsto referto somerelationbetweenthe Rovere (the oak) and the Borgia
with
may be to thereconciliation
Pope (the bull). Dr. Ashbysuggeststhatthereference
Giuliano della Rovere,when GiulianoreceivedCesare Borgia amicablyat Avignonin
himrightly,
makesthe
autumn1498 (see Pastor,iii. p. 381,443.) Fabriczy,ifI understand
to have been Prefectof Rome, whereashe
curiousmistakeof supposingGianfrancesco
was his uncle
was only Governorof Castel Sant'Angelo. His predecessorin that office
had already
Gian Lodovico, Bishop of Turin,who died in Aug., 1510. Gianfrancesco
been appointed coadjutor to his aged uncle in the see of Turinon 10 May, 1504,and
filledthesee as sole Bishopfrom1510 to May,1515,whenhe becamethefirstArchbishop.
of titleson the obverselimitsit to
He died beforethe end of 1516. The combination
of Castel Sant'Angelo see
the years 1504-1515. For the dates of his governorship
E. Rodocanachi,Le ChateauSaint-Ange,p. 115.
2 Burckard,ed. Celani, i. p. 75 (Muratori,R.I.S., new ed., vol. xxxii.) He is
mentionedearlier (p. 26, 26 Aug.), without description
; and Burckard afterwards
untilin
continuesto call him now subdiaconuspostolicus,nowsecretuscubicularius,
Dec, 1491 (p. 330) he describeshimas episcopusMontisRegalis. Promis(Misc. Stor.I tal.
(1873) xiii. 713-15) says that he did not leave Rome for his diocese until after the
death of Innocent. The Catalogueof theMedici Archives(Christie's,London, 4 Feb.,
1918) p. 68, No. 226, describesa letterfromFrancescodi Savoia, Bishop of Geneva,
dated 7 Mar., 1491,promisingLorenzoto resignthe CathedralChurchof Monrealein
39
{Mons Regalis) on 5 Nov., 1490. We may thereforedate the medal

withinsix years. Both in the treatmentof the bust and still morein
the allegoricalfigurecombiningthe attributesof Faith and Hope (Spes
mihi sola Fides is the motto) the Florentinetouch is apparent. The
medal of BernardinoGamberia1(PI. VI. 5), anotherprivatechamberlain
of InnocentVIII., made in 1485, when the sitterwas aged thirty,is
thoughtby Bode to have been made by Niccol Fiorentinohimselfon a
whichhas been shownin
visit to Rome.2 The lack of discrimination
of
the
Florentine
artistis generally
of
the
ceuvre
Bode's reconstruction
in thiscase.
and is certainlymanifest
recognised,
Thereare threemedalsof InnocentVIII. himselfwhichcall forconsiderationin this connexion. The largestof them,also made in 1485,
has on the reversefiguresof Peace standingbetweenJusticeand Abundance. The traditionalattributionwas to AntonioPollaiuolo; another
suggestion,which is now universallyset aside, was Francia; Bode3
gave it to NiccolFiorentino; and Fabriczy4agreedthatit is Florentine.
We mayperhapsconcedethe Florentineoriginof this largermedal; but
whenwe come to the smallerbut undatedpiece withthe same types,5
whichBode has also sweptintohis net (PI. VI. 7) and to the piece with
the heraldicreverse(PL VIII. 2), we findourselvesobservingexactlythat
constrictionof style which we should expect in a local artistreproducingthe workof a greatmaster. The merefact that a small medal
reproducesthe typesof a largerone is too oftentaken as a reasonfor
assigningboth to the same hand. An elementaryknowledgeof human
of thiskindof argument.
to showthe worthlessness
natureis sufficient
The figureof Peace whichappearson thesemedalsremindsus ofthe
on the Pope's tomb: Italicae pads perpetuocustodi,a fairly
inscription
favour of GernimoCalagrano. There must be some strangeconfusionhere,since
Callagrani'spredecessorat Mondoviwas not Francescodi Savoia (who could not have
writtena letteron that date, seeing that he was alreadydead on 6 Oct., 1490) but
AntonioCampione.
1 Firstmentioned
by Burckard,6 Jan.,1485(ed. Celani,i. p. 105). In 1501he became
xxv. p. 10.
Bishopof Cavaillon,and filledthesee until1510. 2 BerlinJahrbuch,
4 Ital. Medals (Eng. trans.)p. 114.
9 Zeitschr.
f. bild.Kunst,xv. p. 41.
6 Bode, Berlin-Jahrbuch,
xxv. Taf. A3, C3, or Florentiner
Bildhauer2,
Figs. 151, 152.
it
A specimenof this medal was foundin the Pope's tomb. On this flimsyfoundation,
of the medalsof thistypeto AntonioPollaiuolo,the
wouldseem,is based the attribution
artistofthePope's sarcophagus. The sameobverseis also foundcombinedwitha heraldic
reversewhichis too smallfori:t,and evidentlydoes not belong(I. B. Supino,Medagliere
Mediceo,No. 70).
40
just claim. Fuit humanasetamatorpads, says Infessura. On the other

hand,theJusticeand Abundancereceivea ratherinteresting
commentary
in the complaintsof Egidius of Viterbo,1who describeshow Innocent
suddenlyawoke to the necessityof executingjusticeon the innumerable
in the city,and how his outburstef severityexcitedodium,
malefactors
which he appeased by doles of corn to the populace. Never was it
cheaperor moreabundantin Rome.
These are the only contemporary
medals of InnocentVIII. known
to me. We have alreadynoticedsomeportraitsofprivatepersonswhich
were producedin his reign. There is anotherrepresenting
Guillaume,
Count of Poitiersand Seigneurde Clerieu,FrenchAmbassadorto the
Pope in 1489,2 whichwas probablymade in Rome in that year and portrayshimat the age of about 37 (PI. VI. 2). In stylethismedal stands
so faras I know,no otherpieceofthe period. The
by itself,resembling,
below
the bust denotethe object of Guillaume'smission,
hands
clasped
to make a pact with the Pope. His ambassadorialcharacteris also
denoted-by the figureof Mercury,holdinga caduceus,on the reverse.
But the chiefinterestof the reversetypelies in its beingan adaptation
di Geremiawhichwe
of that of the medal of Constantineby Cristoforo
have alreadydiscussed(p. 27, PI. IV. 2). The Emperoris convertedinto
a Mercury; the femalefigure,holdinga cornucopiae,
still,as we may
of
our
from
Guillaume's
denotes the
mission,
knowledge
prsame
the
border
of
horns
with flamesissuingfromthem
Church. Whether
or is purelyornamental,
I cannotsay.3
has any significance
Besides thesemedalsof privatepersonageswe have also to notethe
of the firstof a long
appearance,eitherin 1491 or shortlyafterwards,
seriesof medalsof Christ,based on a Flemishtype,of whichrecordhas
comedownto us in a Flemishpaintingoftheendofthefifteenth
century.4
but I
The treatmentof the bust on thesemedalsis entirelyFlorentine,
wouldnot denythat someof themmay have been made in Rome. The
1 Quotedby Creighton,
Papacy,v. pp. 320-321.
2 Burckard,ed. Celani,i. p. 275 (13 Sept., 1489). Arm.ii. p. 87, No. 15. Guillaume
also wentas the Frenchking'sambassadorto Spain shortlybeforethe Frenchexpedition
Hist.gen.du Dauphin,ii. p. 495).
to Italy (Chorier,
8 Such a hornis substitutedforthe kornof plentyin the hand of Charityon the
reverseofthe FlorentinemedalsofNiccolPucciniand BernardoSalviati.
4 The intricatequestionof thesemedalsof Christis dealt withby me in a separate
monograph(Medallic Portraitsof Christand otherEssays) shortlyto be issued by the
ClarendonPress.
of the Renaissance.
41
head of Christprofesses,
on the reverse,to
accordingto the inscription
have been copiedfroman ancientemeraldcameo,withportraitsof Christ
and St. Paul, whichhad been presentedby the Sultan Bajazet II. to
InnocentVIII., in orderto induce him to keep his brotherDjem in
captivity. As thereis nothingEarly Christianor Byzantineabout the
typeofChrist(oraboutthatofPaul,whenthehead oftheApostleappears,
as it does on certainlaterspecimens),
we mustassumethatthe artistwas
to imposeon the piousby claimingthathis fancyportraits
endeavouring
werebased on ancientauthority. Howeverthismay be, the medal was
verypopular,and it is probablethatmostofthelaterversionsweremade
in Rome,continuingdown to the timewhen,shortlybeforethe middle
a newtypeof Chhstmedalbecamefashionable,
ofthe sixteenthcentury,
and oustedthe old one frompopularfavour.
Innocentwas followedin 1492 by AlexanderVI. Of the second
medals.1
BorgiaPope we have probablynotmorethanfourcontemporary
thePope's coronation:
A muchdiscussedpiece (PI. VII. 7) commemorates
the Pope is seated undera canopy; threebishops,a crowdof persons,
whichtakes
assistat the ceremony,
soldiers,a horsemanand trumpeters,
background. In the exergueis the word
place beforean architectural
thismedalto Caradosso(ofwhomwe
attributed
CORONAT. Friedlnder
shall speak later)and Bode acceptsthis view; but in 1492,at the time
Caradossowas stillin the serviceof Sforza
of the eventcommemorated,
at timesin that service,and may
travelled
he
that
at Milan. It is true
have visitedRome. The medal is certainlymorein Caradosso'sstyleso faras we can forman idea of it- than in that of Francia,in whom
Fabriczywould seek the author. Least probableof all suggestionsis
thatit is so likea medalofHadrian
thatwhichis venturedby Martinori,2
unknown
ofa non-contemporary,
the
work
be
considered
must
it
VI. that
medallist. But the medalofHadrianVI. to whichhe refersis fromdies
fabricastillpreservedin the Romanmint,and is one oftheinnumerable
a
The
at
later
date.
medal
authorities
Roman
the
tions producedby
'
lavoro eccellentee degno di un grande incisore8'
of AlexanderVI.
1 The medal withthe reversedesignof a cross chargedwith nine rosettesmay be

on an earlymedal; but I am judgingonlyfrom
based,so faras the obverseis concerned,
in Tres,de Num.,Md. ital. i. PI. XXV. No. 3.
the illustration
2 Annali,Aless.VI. p. 21.
8 The wordincisor
e is, of course,unhappy,sincethe medalis cast. It is unfortunate
that so manywriterson the subjectare so littlecarefulto distinguishbetweenthe two
fromprinting.
almostas muchas manuscript
methodsof makingmedals,whichdiffer
42
in Martinori'sown words- is the originalon which that of Hadrian

is based.
Anothermedal (PL VIII. i) seemsto bear on the truncationof the
bust tracesof a signature,of whichthe.second letterappears to be C.
If the firstwerelegiblewe shouldknowwhetherto attributethe workto
Nardo Corbolini; 1 but, where visible at all, it seems to resembleD
ratherthan L or N ; and indeedit is not impossiblethat the supposed
traces of a signatureare merelydue to accidental flaws in casting.
The reverseshows a. view of Castel Sant' Angelo. On the side turrets
are the Papal flag,and anotherwhich appears to be chargedwiththe
reads:
Borgia arms, withthe crossedkeys and tiara. The inscription
Arcetnin mole Divi Hadr(ikni) instaur(atam)
ac
propugnaculis
foss(a)
to by a rare medal2
mun{ivit). Work on the Castle is also referred
witha similartypeand the inscription
Mo(lem)Ad(riant)val(lis)fo(ssis)
prop(ugnaculis)
c(inxit). Both pieceswereprobablyused
cor(ridoris)q(ue)
forfoundation
deposits.
The fourthcontemporary
medal (PL VII. 6) 3 has a fineportrait
close in styleto the coronationmedal mentionedabove. On the reverse
is an allegoricaldesign: the Borgia bull stands to right; an angel,
hovering,places a wreathon his head ; beforehim are a small sheaf,a
bunchof flowersand a palm-branch
fallingto the ground. The inscription is Ob sapientiamcumfortunaconiunc(tam).Mr. W. H. Woodward
suggeststhattheallusionis to Alexander'sreturnto Romein thesummer
of 1495 (June27), whenhe receivedan ovationfromthe populace.
The attributionof this piece, as of the coronationmedal,mustfor
the presentremainunfixed. There is some difficulty,
if we accept the
interpretation
just mentionedand read the documentsas they have
usuallybeenread,in seeinghowCaradossocouldhave made it. He came
to Romeon 23 Feb., 14954and it is possiblethatthePope mayhave given
hima commission
fora medal beforeleavingRome on 27 May. If it is
1 Employedas engraverto the Papal Mint; died 1499
(Martinori,Annali, etc.,
AlessandroVI., p. 29).
2 Yriarte,Autourdes Borgia(1891) 81. I knowthismedal
p.
onlyfromdescriptions
and fromtheillustration
in Yriarte. It seemsto be by a coarserhand thanthe other.
, 3 Tres,de Num.,Md. ital.i. PI. XXV. No. 4.
4 LetterfromRometo Lodovicoil Moro,dated25 Feb., 1495,formerly
in theMorrison
Collection,now belongingto Mr. W. H. Woodward. Caffi'sstatement(Arch.Stor,Lomb.,
1880,p. 601) thatCaradossowroteon 27 Feb. sayinghe was goingto Romeis a mistakefor
2j Feb. (See E. Piot in Cab. de VAmateur,1863,No. 26, p. 35.)
of the Renaissance.
43
true that the medallistwas back in Milan by 24 June,1he cannothave

seen Alexander'striumphon 27 June. If the reverseofthe medal refers
to thatevent,and we insiston Caradosso'sauthorship,
we must suppose
at leastas regardsthereverse,musthave been sent
thatthe specification,
to him at Milan. Possibly,however,the recordshave been misinterpreted,and Caradossodid notleave Rome beforeAlexander'sreturn.2
No contemporary
medallist,so faras we know,attemptedthe portrait of Cesare Borgia. An interestinglittle medal exists, it is true,
whichis based on somefineoriginalportrait,but it can hardlybe earlier
than the secondthirdof the sixteenthcentury; noris thereany reason
to assignit to a Romanhand.3
In 1656therewas foundat FourviresnearLyon a largecast medallion (18 cm.in diameter),purelyItalian in style,bearinga laureatehead
of some artisticquality in the pseudo-classicalmanner (Fig. 4).4 The
of thishead has neverbeen made out, and it maypossessno
significance
'
'
morethando theheadsof RomanEmperors whichwereso commonan
elementin Renaissancedecoration.5 But this head is accompaniedby
in Hebrew,togetherwithtwo
collectionof inscriptions
an extraordinary
:
and
Greek
Latin
in
words
respectively VMILITAS and (apparently)
rawvpoais. On the reverse is inscribed: Post tenebrasspero lucem
index dies ultimus. D. III. M. These various inscriptions
felicitatis
the object of endlessconjectureseversincethe firstdiscussion
been
have
in 1696. The varioustheories
by the JesuitClaude-FrancisMnestrier
unconvinhave been resumedby S. Ferars,6whoseown interpretation,
a
of
features.
attractive
number
in
be
manydetails,presents
cingas it may
The chiefpointwhichhas been made out so faris thatthe mainHebrew
is an acrosticgivingthe name of ' Benjamin the son of the
inscription
1 Whenhe was employedin connexionwiththepledgingofsomeofthe Duke's jewels
(Mntzin Gaz. d. Beaux Arts,xxvii.,1883,p. 494).
2 Mntzsays that a letterof 24 June,1495,communicated
to him by Cam, shows
Caradossoengagedin this businessof thejewels. He does not say who wrotethe letter
(Lodovicoor Caradosso?) and whence. It has been assumedthatthis letteris evidence
thatCaradossowas in Milanat the time,but obviouslythe slovenlydescriptiongivenby
to provethis. The artistwas certainlythereon 12 Dec, 1495
Mntzdoes not suffice
(Mntz, loe. cit.).
* Illustratedby W. H. Woodward,CesareBorgia,at p. 396 ; cp. p. 378.

4 ReducedfromRev.Num.,1910, PI. viii.
6 It seems to me to bear no resemblanceto the head of : Augustus (rather
di Geremia,as Ferars,the latestwriteron the
Constantine)on the medal by Cristoforo
6 RevueNumistn.(1910)pp. 196 ff.
subject,supposes.
44
wise Eliahu Ber, the physician/in whosehonourthe medal was cast.

Secondly,the lettersD. III. M. on the reverseare naturallyto be taken
as a date, 1497. Whetherthe odd arrangementof the numeralsis
deliberate,and intendedalso to suggest1503, is less certain. Ferars
remindsus that thesetwo dates correspondwiththe firstyearin which
Ferdinandand Isabella inducedthePope to place theInquisitionin power
Fig. 4.- The Medat. of Fourvires. h scale.
at Rome,and withthe yearof the Pope's death; JuliusII. immediately

on his accessionbroughtreliefto the persecutedJews. From certain
lettersin the inscription,
as well as fromthe Latin and Greekwords,the
French criticextracts with more ingenuitythan plausibilitynumeral
values which moreor less confirmone or other of the two dates. In
short,he regardsthe medallionas havingbeen made to celebratethe
accessionof JuliusII., and the end ofthe oppressionof the Jewsby the
45
Inquisition. This generalconclusionhas certainlymoreattractiveness

thansomeof the argumentsby whichit is reached. The last wordhas
not been said on the puzzle; meanwhileit remainsone of the most
curiousproductsof Italian (probably,to be more precise,of Roman) art
or beginning
ofthe sixteenthcentury.1
at theend ofthefifteenth
1
The briefreignofPius III. (22 Sept.- 18 Oct., 1503)is notillustrated
medals.2 JuliusII., on the otherhand,patronised
by any contemporary
the medallicas he did the otherarts. We have alreadymentionedthe
CaradossoFoppa was the son of Gian
name of Caradosso.3 Cristoforo
MaffeoFoppa of Milan,and was bornabout 1452. Down to the timeof
the fall of Lodovico il Moro,and perhapseven later,he workedchiefly
forhis
in Milan,thoughhe travelledfrequently,
executingcommissions
of
Florence
to
works
art
to
from
he
went
the
in
as
when
buy
1495
prince,
Medicicollection. In December,1505,we findhim in Rome, wherehe
of JuliusII., Leo X., HadrianVI. and
was to remainin the employment
ClementVII. They employedhim as goldsmith,setterand valuer of
gems,and generallyas theiradviser in regardto antiques,but also,
it would seem,as medallist. He died some timebetween6 Dec, 1526,
and 1 April,1527.
to Caradossoofmedalscastand coinsengravedduring
The attribution
his Milaneseperiodis besetwithuncertainties'1,
and, to tell the truth,the
ofhis workafterhe came to Romeis hardlyless precarious.
identification
Mostauthoritiesagreein assigningto himthe beautifulseriesof portrait
coinsor testoonsof GiangaleazzoMaria,Lodovicoil Moro,and Beatrice
d'Este- pieceswhicheasilytake rankas themostbeautifulportraitcoins
of modern times.4 These seem to carry with them a set of eleven
smallmedals,struckfromdies,and ofcoin-like
technique,whichmusthave
the
Milanese
dukedomby Louis XII.,
of
tenure
the
been made during
Gian Galeazzo Visconti,Francesco
and beartheportraitsofLouis himself,
1 All the specimensotherthan the one foundat Fourviresand now in the Paris
Cabinetseemto have beencast fromthat one.
2 Unlessone recordedby Armand(iii. p. 197,A) is contemporary.The inscription
Ottimobrincibioccupiesthefieldofthe reverse. I have notseenit.
3 Summaryof his career,with bibliography,
in Thieme-Becker'sAllgem.Lex. d.
bild. Knstler. See also F. MalaguzziValeri'ssanelysceptical account in La Cortedi
Lodovicoil Moro,vol. iii. (1917) pp. 325 ff.
4 Some,or perhapsall, of the portraitcoins of Galeazzo Maria Sforzaand Bona of
Savoy, on the otherhand, are fromdesignsby ZanettoBugatto,the dies beingcut by
Francescoda Mantova and Maffeoda Civate or his son Ambrogio. See F. Malaguzzi
Valeri,op. cit.pp. 358-9.
46
Sforza,aridtheothersalreadymentioned. Thenwe have twocastmedals,

one of Lodovico il Moro,whichmusthave been made about 1488, and
anotherofFrancescoSforza,whichmustdate fromabout the same time;
theyare certainlyby the same hand. No signatureappears on any of
these pieces,arid we have no documentaryevidencethat they are by
themto him is apparentlythat
Caradosso. The reasonforattributing
thereis no recordof any othermedallistof the timeat Milanto whom
they can be credited,although,as regardstheirdesign,the name of
de Predishas beenmentioned. Ifwe comparethemwithmedals
Ambrogio
attributed(also,withone exception,by conjecture)to Caradosso'sRoman
period,we can at least say thattheyare notmutuallyrepellent; thereis
nothingwhichmakesus exclaimthat theycannotbe by the same hand.
There is also a medal (with two slightlyvariant reverses,consisting
the old marshalGian Giacomo
entirelyof inscription)commemorating
Trivulzioand his captureof Alessandriaand defeat of Lodovico Sforza
at Novara in 1499, Ever since the time of Lomazzo1 (not a first-rate
thevehicleofan old tradition)thesepieceshave
but sometimes
authority,
been assignedto Caradosso. Some yearsago J. de Foville2proposedto
add to his workcertainmedalsof NiccolOrsini,countof Pitiglianoand
Nola, Captain Generalat various times of the armies of the Roman
Church,of Veniceand of Florence. The attributionis biasedon the resemblanceto the medals of Francescoand Lodovico Sforza; but the
portraitsof Orsinihave a dull mechanicalouch whichbetraysanother,
less skilfulhand.
Finally,we have a fixedpointin a medal,struckfromdies, which
wereengravedby CaradossoforFederigoII Gonzaga,MarquisofMantua
(PI. IX. 2). A letterfromFederigo'sagent at Rome, dated 26 Sept.
1522, informsus that the artistwas then workingon this medal.3 It
Domino and representsDavid seated,
bears the motto Gloriamafferte
rests
on thehead ofGoliath,whileVictory,
foot
his
his
left
playing harp;
alightingon the seat behindhim,places a wreathon his head. In front,
hangingon a stump,are his slingand sword. The workis of extreme
2 Rev.Nutnism.(1911) pp. 449 ff.
1 Trattato
d. pittura,vi. c. 18, vii. c. 23.
a Milanesi,apud Armand,iii. 34,B. Milanesidoes notquote the wordsofthewriter,
in
or say howhe describesthe medal; but we mustassumethatit is the piece mentioned
thetext,sinceMilanesipicksit out fromthenumerousothermedalsoftheMarquis. This
fromtheimpresa,or badge,which*quellomaladettovecchio'
medalmustbe distinguished
to make forthe Marquisin Sept., 1522,and whichwas stillunfinished
was commissioned
Artistiin re.coi Gonzaga*
in July,1524 (Bertolotti,
Modena,1885,p. 92).
of the Renaissance.
47
delicacy,but the designis somewhatfussy. On the whole,this documentedpiece may be said to confirm
the attributionto Caradossoof the
medalsofLodovicoil Moroand FrancescoSforza,and ofthe largemedals
of JuliusII, to whichwe shallcomelater.
CellinispeaksofCaradossoin termsofenthusiastic
praise,but it may
be observedthat he says nothingof any medals (in our sense) or coins
of his ; in fact it is noticeablethat he ratherimpliesthat he did not
are : 'Questo huomo
engravecoin-dies. His wordsin his Autobiography1
cesellate
fatte
di piastra,et molte
solamente
di
lavorava
medagliette
altre cose ; fece alcune Pace lavoratedi mezo rilievoet certiChristidi
un palmo, fattidi piastresottilissime
d'oro, tanto ben lavorate,che io
il
essere
maggiormaestro,che mai di tal cose io havessi
giudicavoquesto
visto,et di lui pi che di nessunoaltro havevo invidia. Anchorac'era
altrimaestriche lavoravanodi medaglieintagliatein acciaio,le quali son
le madreet la vera guida a coloroche voglionosaperefarebenissimole
' of.
monete/ These ' medagliette
Caradosso,as Celliniexplains elsefromthatof
a
made
were
where,
hat-badges,
by techniquequite different
cast or struckmedals2; and Caradossoseemsto be contrastedwiththe
ex silentio
peoplewho made dies forcoinsor medals. The argumentum
to
the
evidence
and
we
take
cannot
is nearlyalwaysunsound,
provethat
Cellini supposed that Caradosso did not make medals at all ; but it
seemsclearthathe did not regardthemas takingan importantplace in
themaster'sactivity.
In dealingwithmedalsto be attributedto Caradossoin his Roman
period,since,so faras the archiveshave been searched,thereis no documentaryevidenceof such works,with the exceptionof the medal of
FederigoGonzaga,we dependgreatlyon the statementof Vasari, in his
life of Bramante.3 He describesthat architect'sdesign of St. Peter's
'come si vede nelle moneteche batt poiGiulioII. e Leon X., fatteda
Carradossoeccellentissimo
orefice,che nel farconj non ebbe pari ; come
ancora si vede la medagliadi Bramantefattada lui molto bella/ Now
we have alreadyseen that the evidenceof Celliniis, to say the least,not
in favour of the view that Caradosso was a coin-engraver.Modern
numismaticauthoritiesare unanimousin rejectingthe statementthat
CaradossoengraveddiesforcoinsofJuliusII. or Leo X. ; and indeedthere
2 Op. cit. p. 64 ; cp. Oreficeria,cap. v.
1 Ed. O. Bacci (1901), p. 52.
8 Ed. Milanesi, iv. p. 161.
4b1
are no coins o these Popes that bear any resemblanceto any of the
Milanesetestoonsorto themedalofFederigoGonzaga. Sincetheattributionofthetestoonsis not certainwe should not lay much stresson the
the Vaticanrecordsyieldno evidence
argumentfromthem.But, further,
ofdies havingbeenengravedbyCaradosso. Vasari'sstatementis perhaps
a goldsmithas Caradossocould
due to some notionthat so distinguished
nothave failedto have been employedon suchwork. It is in any case
a carelessstatement,
sincethemedalofBramante(PI. IX. i)
demonstrably
is cast, not struckfromdies. It representsthe great architect'sbust,
undraped,withthearmcut offas ifit werea pieceofsculpture: a pseudoclassicaltouchnaturalenoughin Rome at the time,but not to be found
on othermedals until the sixteenthcenturyis well advanced. On the
Architecture
reverseis a figuresymbolising
; she is seatedwithherright
is
footon a weight,and holdsa squareand compasses; in thebackground
a view of St. Peter's,accordingto Bramante'sdesign. The inscription
is FidelitasLabor.1 The portrait,in spite of the affectedtreatmentof
the bust, is a remarkablypowerfulpiece of characterisation.No one,
so far as I know, has disputedVasari's attributionof this medal to
Caradosso. It bears no strikingresemblanceto the Milanesemedalsor
withthem.
to thatof FederigoGonzaga,but neitheris it incompatible
What then of the medals of JuliusII. ? There are two or three
whichhave been assignedto the Milaneseartist. One, whichis struck
theconversion
ofSt. Paul, has also beenclaimed
fromdies,and represents
for Francia (Pl. IX. 3). This is pure guess-work.In its hard and
unimaginativestyleit is entirelyin keepingwith-the techniqueof the
coinswhichwereissuedfromthemintduringthe timethatthe Florentine
Pier Maria Serbaldida Pescia (calledTagliacarne)was engraver,2
and the
be
attributed
to
as
Martinori
him,
piece may safely
suggested.3But
thereis anotherportraitof Julius,cast insteadof struck,and of much
1 This medal, on which the sitter is called Bramantes Asdruvaldinus, must not be
confused with the later copy, on which he is called Bramantes Durantinus, the view of St.
Peter's is omitted, and the date 1504 is inscribed on the weight. The maker of this later
copy has followed Vasari (or Vasari's authority) in making Bramante a native of Castel
Durante instead of Monte Asdrualdo, and, having inscribed the date 1504 on the weight,
has been obliged to omit the facade of St. Peter's, on which Bramante did not begin work
until 1506. (See G. F. Hill, PortraitMedals of Italian Artists,1912, p. 42.)
2 Appointed for life by Alexander VI. on
24 Aug., 1499 (Martinori, Annali, Aless.
VI., pp. 17, 29) he engraved the dies for the bullae of Pius III. (ibid. p. 33), and continued
b Op. cit. p. 65.
to be employed under Julius II. and Leo X.
of the Renaissance.
49
betterquality (PL VIII. 3). It is dated 1506,and appearswithtwo rethe facade of St. Peter's with the cupola and
verses; one representing
the ' Instautwo towers,afterBramante'sdesign,and commemorating
'
racioTempliPetri (PL VIII. 3) ; the otherdisplayinga landscape,with
a shepherdseated undera tree and pointingout the way to his sheep,
as theymove down froma mountain; the mottoon this piece is Pedo
srvalasovesad requiemago (PL VIII. 4) Thesetwomedalsare generally
supposedto be Caradosso'swork; the attributionmustforthe present
remainunproventhoughprobable.1 I see no reasonto doubtthatthese
medalsand that of Bramantemay be by the same hand. If the reverse
reducedto the same
of the second medal of Juliusis photographically
scale as the Milanesemedalsmentioned above, it makes, by its
crowdedcomposition,very much
the same impressionas they do.
All threedesignsbetraya certain
restlessnessof effectin common
with the David of the Gonzaga
medal. The portrait of Julius
lacks the penetrationand vigour
of theportraitof Bramante. But
it is naturalthat Caradossoshould
have had more intimateperception of his fellow-artist,
whomhe
had knownat Milan beforethey
Fig. 5.- Julius II. By Caradosso.
both came to Rome,than of so
exalteda personas the head of the Church,withwhomhe had perhaps
but just comein contact.
Thereis a varietyof the medal of St. Peter's on whichthe Pope is
representedwearinga large skull-capand cape (cappa or mozzetta),
insteadofa cope (Fig. 5).2 Armand,aftera carefuldiscussion,concludes
thatthisis thepieceofwhichtwo specimensin goldand ten in brasswere
of St. Peter'son 18 April,1506. He seemsto
placed in the foundations
me to lay too muchstresson the fact (reportedby Burckard)that the
'
1 Martinori(op. cit.p. 66) is ' not too well
as being
persuaded by the attribution,
conjecturaland withoutdocumentary
support.
2 Armand,i. 108. 4, iii. 36a. I owe the cast of this
specimento the kindnessof
M. JeanBabelon.
E
So
Pope wore a cappa on that occasion. Since the same reverse,referring

to the Instaurado TtnpliPetri,is attachedto the portraitof the Pope
in the foundaclad in a cope,that varietywas probablyalso represented
tiondeposit. The specimenof themedal withthe cappa in the Bibliothque Nationale in no way supportsthe opinion of Geymller,who
says x thatthis varietyis muchsuperiorin workmanshipto the other,
and representsthe authenticwork of Caradosso, the others being
inferior.
imitations. To judge fromthe cast,it is, if anything,
Thereare fewartistsofwhomit it so trueas it is of Caradossothat
of their
as soon as one beginsto examinethe groundsforthe attribution
worksit crumblesaway. There is but one singleextant work of his
withcertainty. Yet it is generallybelievedthathe
that we can identify
the medallicart ; that he not merelymarks,but himself
revolutionised
fromthe fifteenth
the transition
centurystyleto thatof
actuallyeffected,
the sixteenth; and that muchof the changein the characterof the art
whichit is customaryto attributeto Celliniis reallydue to him. This
estimateis no.tbased merelyon modernconjecturalattributions
; his
such as Pomponio Gaurico, Sabba Castiglioneand
contemporaries,
BenvenutoCellini,mentionedhim with praise; for the firstof these
writers,he is one of the only two caelatoresof the time worthyto be
mentionedby name.2 The medals whichwe have been describingat
any rate mark the transitionto the new style,and coincidewith the
whollyfantastic
beginningof his activityin Rome; it is not therefore
of the man who was
to see in themthe hand, or at least the influence,
and goldsmithof his time in
recognizedas the leading metal-worker
the Papal service.
It is possiblethat his activityas medallistwas chieflyconfinedto
the firstyearsof his Romanperiod,and thatwhenCellinifirstsettledat
littleofthiskind
Romein 1518or 1519Caradossowas doingcomparatively
ofwork,although,as we have seen,he was engravingdies fora medalin
his medals mightescape notice in Cellini's
1522. Naturallytherefore
(whichhe firstbeganto writeabout 1558)or in his Treatise
Autobiography
Art(whichhe did not beginuntilabout 1566).
on theGoldsmith's
with the medals of Julius attributedto Caradosso
Contemporary
littlestruckpiece3bearingthe signature(V *C ) of the
is an interesting
2 De Sculptura(1504),.c. xvi.,ad fin.
1 Projetsprimitifs,
p. 258,No. 67.
3 Armand,i. 116. 10.
of the Renaissance.
51
VenetianartistVettorGambello,whomwe have alreadymentionedin

connexionwithSixtus IV. The obverseis dated 1506. On the reverse
is a text fromi. Pet. v.2 : Pascite qui in vobisest gregetn
Dei. The
Pope,withChristenthroned,
subjectis Petergivingthekeysto thekneeling
his hand raised in blessing. The medal is quite in Gambello's style,
and the doubtwhichhas been expressedwhetherthe lettersV C * are
his signatureseemsto me to be uncalledfor.1 But in any case Gambello
cannotbe regardedas a Roman medallist,and need not detain us
longer.
Romano2whomwe
In spite of his name and origin,Giancristoforo
workedforbut a shorttimeat Rome. An admirable
mustnextmention,
medal of Julius,withthe figuresof Peace and Fortunegraspinghands,
was produced
and the inscriptionIustitiaePads Fideique Recuperator,
Born
he
had
been
about 1465,
employed
by himin 1506 (PL VIII. 5).
as a sculptorin Rome, beingfirstmentionedin 1484. In 1491 he left
Rome forthe North,and workedchieflyat Milan and Mantua. The
well-knownmedal of Isabella d'Este, which that of Julius strongly
resembles,is firstmentionedas having been made in 1498. Towards
the end of 1505 he was recalledto Rome, and there,probablyearlyin
the next year,he made the medal of Julius. Leaving Rome sometime
in 1507 he went to Naples. Giacomod'Atri,Mantuanambassadorat
had made
Naples,in a letterof 24 Oct.,1507,remarksthatGiancristoforo
medalsof Isabella d'Este and JuliusII., and was makingone of Isabella
of Aragn; also that he was goingthat day to Rome. He remainedat
Romein 1508 and untilafter1 Nov., 1509. He nextappearsat Urbino,
among the companyof Castiglione'sCortegiano.He died at Loreto
on 31 May,1512.
Giacomo d'Atri's statementis furtherborne out by a document3
was paid forthe dies
whichtellsus thaton 14 Sept.,1506,Giancristoforo
of two medalsmade forJuliusII., one of the Peace and the otherof the
Dearth. The formermedal we have already mentioned; the other,
witha piece on the
to the dearthof 1505,has been identified
referring
1 Milanesidoubtsit lapudArmand,iii. 456) and so does Martinori(op. cit.p. 66, 1).
* See especiallyA. Venturiin Arch.Stor.dell'Arte,i. pp. 49-59 107 ff-148 ff.; P.
Giordaniin L'Arte,x. (1907)pp. i97-28' of theCamera
Giordani,op. cit.p. 206 (in the volume' Mandatorum
Apostlica):
a GianChristophoro
de
duomedaglie,
conio
fatto
lo
18
haver
D.
perN. Signore
per
scolptore
una della pace che se fecee l'altradella caristia.'
E 2
52
The Bkitisii School at Rome.
of Annona publica: a running

reverseof which is a personification
femalefigure,crownedwith corn,with fluttering
drapery,holdingears
of cornand a hornof plenty.1 I am boundto say that the authenticity
of such specimensof this medal as I have seen is open to doubt; the
whoworked
suggeststhehandofthelaterrestorers
styleofthosespecimens
suchhavoc at the Papal Mint. One,at least,ofthetwo versionsis from
dies whichwere in use in the nineteenthcenturyforstrikingseriesof
Papal Medals to be suppliedto collectors.2These dies, it is of course
possible,mayhave been based on earlierauthenticdies.
As regardsthe medal of the Peace, it is to be observedthat the one
withGiancristoforo's
whichis identified
work,and whichwas attributed
to him on stylisticgroundseven beforethe documentabove-mentioned
was known,is not struckfromdies,but cast. The case is similarto that
of Cellini'smedal of CardinalBembo; the documentary
evidenceattests
the existenceof a struckmedal,whereasthe extantmedal is cast from
wax. It is possible that such cast medals representthe wax models
made by the artistsas a guidein engravingtheirdies.3 But it is, to say
the least, strangethat, if the dies werefinished,
no specimensof medals
struckfromthemshouldhave survived. It may howeverbe observed
that the documentsays that Giancristoforo
was paid formakinga die,
not for actually producingspecimensstruckfromit. The lattermay
seem to be implied. Yet in the next case to be consideredit is distinctlysaid that the artistwas paid forcoiningtwo medals; and in this
case struckmedals were,as we know fromextant specimens,actually
to
produced. So that it is possiblethat,afterall, the Pope preferred
modelsof the Peace medal by casting,rather
reproduceGiancristoforo's
than to use his dies,forwhichnevertheless
paymentwas made.
A documentdated 15 Nov., 1509,4provesthat Giancristoforo
was
medals
for
two
of
the
of
Rome
and
Civitavecchia.
striking
paid
buildings
Giordaniremarksthat the medalswhichcommemorate
buildingserected
in 1508 and 1509 were attributedby Friedlnderto Francia. One of
1 Armand,ii. no. 7 ; Tres,de Num.,Md. des Papes, Pl. IV. 4.
2 Mazio, Serie dei conj di medagliePontificie. . . esistentinella PontificiaZecca
(Rome, 1824),No. 34. The specimensin the London and Paris Cabinetsare fromsuch
moderndies.
1 Cp. Vasari's descriptionof Francia's method, quoted by Friedlnder,Ital.
Schaumnzen,
p. 175.
4 Giordani,loc.dt. (fromthesame volumeof Mandati). ' Pagato a Gian
Christophoro
scolptoreD. 20 per coniareduo medagliedelliedificidi Roma et Civitavecchia.'
of the Renaissance.
53
them,on whichthe Pope is describedas arcisfund(ator)t

probablyrefers,
he says,to a Palace builton the bank ofthe Tiber; on the reverseare a
womanand a man seated by a river.1 The othermedal,that of Civitaand perhapsnotoriginal; it recallsa medal
vecchia,he adds,is unfinished
ofa similarsubjectwhichhas been attributedto Caradosso.
to Civitavecchia
Now thereare no fewerthan fourpiecesreferring
underJulius.One2(struck,41 mm.in diameter)readsPORTVS CENTVM
CELLÊ and gives a view of the fortified
port,with ships lyingoffit ;
'
'
or
but thisis a restoration by Paladino someotherartistofhis time.
The same inscriptionand type on a reducedscale (31 mm.) appearon
with the
anotherpiece,struckfromdies certainlynot contemporary
Pope.3 Another*(also struck,38 mm.), reads CENTVM CELLE, and
omitsthe ships (PI. IX. 9). This has moreclaim to be contemporary.
In view of its lean and scratchystyleit mustbe rangedwith-the pieces
smallpiece(30 mm.)describes
to PierMariaSerbaldi.A fourth,
attributed
thePope as Arcisfundat(or)and readson thereverseCIVITA VECHIA5 ;
withthreetowersand the sea in front
it givesa viewofthe fortifications
pieceis fromthe samehand as threeothermedals
(PI. IX. 6). This fourth
One ofthese (PI. IX. y)Qshowsa buildingwith
size.
small
of the same
threecrenelatedtowers,a flagon the middle,highestone ; the inscripthe buildingas the projectedPalace
tion IVRI REDD(itum) identifies
of Justice(the Palazzo di S. Biagio della Pagnotta)in thenewVia Giulia,
whichBramantewas commissionedto build but never carried out.7
Another8reads TVTELA, and shows a shepherdtendinghis flocks
(PI. IX. 3). The thirdis the piece alreadydescribed,with Justiceand
a blacksmithbeforea castle (PL IX. 5), These four medals, being
may on the evidenceof the documentquoted
obviouslycontemporary,
1 Friedlnder,op. cit. p. 174, PI. XXXIV. 12. The figuresare Justiceand a
blacksmith
; thereis no river.
2 Tres,de Num.,Mid. des Papes, PL IV. 2 ; Armand,ii. 112. i ; E. Rodocanachi,
Arm.,ii. no. 8.
Romeau tempsde JulesII. etde Leon X., PI. XI.
Tres,de Num.,Mid. des Papes, PI. IV. 1 ; Armand,ii. 112. 17.
6 Arm.,ii. in. 14. The secondwordon all specimensthat I have seen has onlyone
was engravedon thereversedie,
C. Somespecimenswerestruckoffbeforetheinscription
to whenhe speaksof an unfinished
piece. It
and thismay be whatGiordaniis' referring
'
happensto be the most original of themall.
Arm.,ii. in. 12 ; cf.SupinorMed. Medtceo,No. 711.
7 Martinori,
op. cit.p. 68, dote 6. Certainsketchesand plans of the buildingare
extant; cp. P.B.S.R. ii. p. 15, No. n ; Boll. d'Arte,viii. (1914)PP- 185-195 Friedlnder,
p. 175,PI. XXXIV. 13 ; Arm.11.in. n.
54
above be safelyassignedto Giancristoforo.

The Tutela medal especially
is a verypleasingexampleof his art as a die-engraver.
The medal inscribedCIVITA VECHIA is the subjectof someinterestingremarksby Paris de Grassis.1 Underthe year 1508 he describes
how the Pope proceededto the spot on the second Sunday in Advent
in the
and depositedabout 300 medals in a vase in the foundations,
cruciform
bed of cementwhichalso receivedthe inscribedfoundationstone. Half the medals were made of ' auricalcum,quod brongium
'
'
appellatur,' and half ex ere albo nescio cuius misture (presumably
bronzeand brass respectively,
althoughauricalcumshouldstrictlymean
the latteralloy), about the size of the double giulio {i.e., about30 mm.
in diameter). He describesthe types and inscriptionsof the medals,
'
and adds that the inscriptionCIVITAS VECCHIA puzzled him, cum
vecchianon sit vocabulumlatinum,tamensic fuitin aliquibus.1 Now
is always
no recordedexistingspecimensread CIVITAS ; the inscription
CIVITA VECHIA, to whichno objectioncouldbe taken. Whatis more,
the lettersof this inscription
have evidentlybeen separatelyinsertedin
the die by means of an alphabet of punches,accordingto the method
describedby Cellini. This fact,as well as the existenceof specimensin
whichthe inscriptionis lackingaltogether(PL IX. 4), promptsme to
of Paris de
suggestthat, possiblyin consequenceof the representations
of
this
some
in
the
reverse
correction
was
made
medal,so faras
Grassis,
concernsthe specimenswhichhave come downto us.
to the workof Julius
There is at least one othermedal2 referring
as builder; it commemorates
the layingout ofthe Belvedere. The comare
positionof the portraiton the obverseand the styleof the lettering
so much akin to those of the Peace medal, that, in spite of a greater
coarsenessin execution,thereshouldbe littlehesitationin acceptingit
as the workof Giancristoforo
(PL VIII. 6). Above a view of the palace
and terraces(withthe wordVATICANVS M(ons) below) are the words
VIA IVL Ill ADIT LON M ALTI L XX P , giving apparentlythe measurementof the approachesfromthe Belvedereto the
Va tican.
1 Quotedby Bonanni,i. p. 157. Cp. B.M. Add. MS. 8441,fol.249.
* Arm.ii. no, 45 ; Tres.,PL IV. 3 ; E. Rodocanachi,Romeau tempsde JulesII. et
de Lon X., PL X.
3 The abbreviationspresumablymean Via Iulia triumadituumlongitudinismille
altitudinisseptuagintapedum.Cp. Bonanni,Num. Pont.,i. p. 159.
55
These are all the medals of JuliusII. whichcan be with more or

less certaintyattributedto knownartists.1 There remainone or two
forcompleteness'
sake. A smallmedalet2
pieceswhichmaybe mentioned
a
as it has been called)
bears on the reversea scorpion(not cray-fish,
Nolomortem
withtheinscription
etvivat*
pec(c)atorissedmagisconvertatur
becomesclear when
The relationbetweenthe type and the inscription
thatthe scorpionwas the emblemofheresy.4 The allusion
we remember
is evidentlyto that relaxationof the persecutionof the Jewsand other
hereticsby the Inquisitionwhich,as we have alreadyremarkedin discussinganothermedal, signalisedthe beginningof the pontificateof
Julius. It is impossiblenotto recallin thisconnexionthemotofRodrigo
underInnocentVIII., beingreproached
Borgiawho,whileVice-Chancellor
on
withthe way in which the worst malefactorsescaped punishment
' Deus non vultmortem
:
of
sums
peccatoris.
money,replied
paymentof
sed magisut solvatet vivat.'5
Anotherpiece, struckfromdies, the obversebeing the same as in
the CENTVM CELLE medal describedabove, representsJusticeand
Osculatesunt (PI. X. 1).
Abundancejoininghands,withthe inscription
a hornof plenty6;
Abundance
branch
and
olive
scales,
Justiceholds an
behindAbundanceis apparentlya fireburningon the ground. This is
betweenthe Orsiniand
supposedby Venutito referto a reconciliation
does
he
not tell us. If the
the Colonnain 1511 ; but on what grounds,
figurewhichwe have called AbundanceweremeantforPeace7 he might
is probablynot to any particularevent so
be right. But the reference
much as to what Juliussupposedto be his generalpolicy. A remark
of Egidius of Viterbohas been aptly quoted in connexionwith this
'
medal : Julius,he says,was Iustitiaetenacissimus
aeque ac Abundantiae
8
cultor.1
1 Of course,I ignorehere medals,such as that by Sperandio,representing
Julius
to Bolognaand
beforehe becamePope, unlesstheyweremade at Rome; piecesreferring
writers
probablymade there; also a numberof coins whichare enumeratedby various
is disproved
amonghis medals; and finallycertainpieces of whichthe contemporaneity
or highlydoubtful.
2 Arm.,iii. 198E ; anotherspecimenis in the collectionof the Earl of Portsmouth
3 Cp. Ezek., xxxiii. u.
(26 mm.,cast).
4 The idea seemsto go back to S. Ambrose; see U. Aldrovandide Anim.Insectts
5 Infessura,ed. Tommasini,p. 245.
(Bologna,1638),p. 594.
6 Arm.,
11. 112,
19 ; 111. 201 f.
7 As Venutisupposed(p. 53), becausethe motto,fromFs. lxxxiv,10, is [lustitia et

8 Quotedby Bonanni,i. p. 145.
pax] osculataesuDt.
56
the Pope (a vivid

Finallythereis littlepiece (29 mm.)1representing
portrait)with the curiousinscriptionIulius Caesar Pont. II. On the
reverseare the Papal arms withthe inscription
Benedii. (sic) qui venit
i(n) no(mine)D(omini) (PL X. 2). Bonanni explainsthis as referring
to the Pope's entryinto Bolognain 1506. Venuti,on the otherhand2
gives Ligur instead of Caesar,but says that the medal readingCaesar
was inventedby the hereticsas a slanderon the Pope ; thisinformation
he gives on the evidenceof a statementby some contemporary
French
diplomaticcorrespondent.
The Romanmedalsof personsotherthanthe Pope made duringthe
reignof JuliusII. are not numerous. One (PL X. 3), a rarebut notfirst
rate work,knownfromspecimensin the Museo Artisticoat Milan and
in the BerlinMuseum,3represents
Gabrielede' Gabrielliof Fano,whowas
made CardinalDeacon of S. Agatha on 17 Dec, 1505, translatedto S.
Prassedeon 11 Sept.,1507,and died on 5 Nov., 1511. As he is described
as Cardinal,it mustbelongto the periodbetweenthe earliestand latest
of these dates, whichis sufficient
to refutethe attributionto Lysippus
whichhas been suggested. The Cardinalseemsto have begunto learn
Greekin his old age, forthe reverseconsistssimplyof an inscription
in
Greek: KAAONTEPONTA KAI TAAAHNHN(i.e. ret'EWjvcov)MAOEIN,
an iambic senariusof whichthe spiritis more commendablethan the
metre.
It is probablyto thereignofJuliusthatwe mustassigntheinterest-*
ing, thoughartisticallymediocre,medal of the Spaniard Bernardino
Carvajal (PL X. 4). Bornin 1455,thismanwas promoted
byAlexanderVI.,
beinga strongpartisanof the Borgia faction,to be Cardinalof S. Marcellinusand S. Peterin 1493,and afterwards,
on 2 Feb., 1495,ofS. Crocev
On 3 Aug., 1507,he was translatedto the see of Albano. As one of the
Cardinalswho revoltedagainst Julius II., and a leading spiritat the
futilecouncilof Pisa, he was deprivedof his dignitieson 24 Oct., 1511;
1 Arm.,ii. no, 4. I have to thankM. Dieudonnfora cast ofthe
specimenat Paris.
The originalwas struck. Bonanni(Num.Pont.,i. 139,3) givestheinscription
as Benedict,
q. venit,etc.
2 Nutnismata
Rom.Pontificum,
p. 47, No. ii and p. xii : 'Rem ab Haereticisconfictam,
et dolo maloexcogitatam,
LegatusquidamAloysiiXII. Galliae Regis,datis Januaeliteris
ad Regemdetulit,si fidemhabeamusValesio,qui hanc epistolamin collectionequadam
Litterarum,
quas Legati ad Galliae Reges AloysiumXII., FranciscumI., et HenricumII.
scripsere,se legissetestatur.'
3 Burl. Mag., xiii. (1908), 286,PI. III. 9 ; Katal.
p.
Simon,p. 54, No. 296^.
57
but Leo X restoredhimon 27 June,1513. He diedin 1522. The medal,1

whichdescribeshim as Cardinalof S. Croce,and must therefore
date
between1495 and 1507,illustrateshis pretensions
to learning.2 On the
of Philosophy,a crownedand veiledfemale
reverseis the personification
a
mantle. She holds in her righthand rolls
voluminous
figure,wearing
in herlefta sceptre. Fromherbreastto herfeetdepends
ofmanuscript,
a long ladder,at the top of whichis the letter@, at the bottom,P.3
These lettersdenoteTheoreticaland PracticalPhilosophyrespectively,
and the wholetypeis based on the visionof Bothius.4 The inscription
vitameternam
is Qui medilucidant,
habeb(unf).
I can make no suggestionas to the authorship of these two
medals.
It does not appearthatLeo X., in spiteofhis love of the otherarts,
paid muchattentionto medallists.It is truethat on 24 June,1515,he
and medallist,a
gave to VettorGambello,the Venetiandie-engraver
as
to
the
that
the influence
and
Papal Mint,5
life-appointment engraver
of thisadmirableartiston the coinageis apparent,as in the gold piece
of 2\ ducats withthe reversetype of the Adorationof the Magi. But
it is douBtfulwhetherany of the regularmedalsof the Pope can be regardedas the workof Gambello. The best claimtheretois possessed,it
wouldseem,by the reverseof a small medal6on whichappearsa very
gracefulfigureof the goddess Roma, seated holdinga little Victory,
herhelmetand shieldon thegroundbesideher(PL X. 6). In theexergue
1 Armand,i. p. 122. The specimenillustrated
is in the Victoriaand AlbertMuseum.
2 The titleof his HomilydeliveredbeforeMaximilianat Mechlinon 4 Sept., 1508,
describeshimas utriusque
philosophiae
facileprinceps.
8 Armandhas takenthisP foran artist'ssignature.
* See E. Male, VArt Religieuxdu XIIIe. sicleen France (1898), pp. 121 f. The
medalrepresents
Philosophyas wearinga crown,but thisis not mentionedby Bothius;
artistsinvolvedher
on theotherhandthemedallistomitsthecloudsin whichthemediaeval
head. 'Vestes/saysBoethius(deCons.Phil., i. 1), 'eranttenuissimisfilis,subtiliartificio,
indissolubilimateriaperfectae.. . . Harum in extremomarginen, in supremo vero
e legebaturintexturn. Atque interutrasquelitterasin scalarummodumgradusquidam
insignitividebantur,quibus ab inferioread superiuselementumesset adscensus.. . .
Et dextraquidemeius libellos,sceptrumverosinistragestabat.' Thereare otherdetails
whichthe medallisthas notattemptedto reproduce For somereasonhe has substituted
LatinP forGreekn.
5 Martinori,
Annali,Leone X., etc.,p. 13. For Gambelloat Rome see J. de Foville,
*Camelio,'inRev.de/'Artanc.etmod.,xxxii.pp. 280 ff.Amongmanyfanciful
attributions,
thatthesmall medalsof Leo X. and Giulianode' Medici,Duke of
de Foville'ssuggestion
Nemours,are by Gambelloseemscomparatively
plausible.
Armand,ii. p. 113,No. 26 ; Rev.de VArt,xxxii.pp. 281 (rev.)and 286 (obv.).
58
is ROMA, in the field,in large lettering,CP, letterswhich de Foville

thatthisinterpretaas Cameliusperfecit. It mustbe confessed
interprets
tionwouldhave been moreacceptableif otherinstancesofthe use ofthe
insteadoffecithad been cited. But the questionis settled
formperfecit
authorityquoted below,whichgives the sense of
by the contemporary
the lettersas ConsensuPublico.1 The plumpmodellingofthe Pope's porworkbyGambello.
trait(PL X. 5) does notremindus ofanyauthenticated
Whatis more,thereversedoesnotfittheobverseexactlyand was evidentlymadenot forit,butfora portraitof Giulianode' Medici,duede Nemours
in modelling,lettering,
composition
(PL X. 6, 7), whichis verydifferent
and conceptiongenerally,althoughde Foville attributesboth alike to
Gambello.2 This littlepiece carrieswithit a largerportraitofthe Duke,
conceivedin the same style(but withdrapedbust and coarserin execution),whichwas made in 1513 (PL VIII. y)* On the reverseis a Concordia group of Virtus and Fortuna; the former,a heavily draped,
veiled femalefigure,gives her righthand to Fortune(frontecapillata),
whoholdsa hornofplentyand has a rudderat herside. The inscription
is Duce virtute
comitfortuna. There can be no doubt,says de Foville,
thatthisworkwas modelledand cast at Rome,aftertheelectionofLeo X.
(March,1513). That event assured the triumphof his family,and is
alludedto by the reverse.
We happento know,as a matterof fact,the occasionforwhichthe
smallermedal of Giulianowas made. In a contemporary
description,
to be quoted later, of the festivitiesat the adoptionof Giulianoas a
citizenand baron of Rome on 13 Sept., 1513, we are told that a large
1 See p. 59, note 1.
2 Op. cii., p. 281. The medal existsin two versions,one readingMAG. (PL X. 7),
the otherMAGNVS IVLIANVS MEDICES (PL X. 6) ; the latteris the earlier,and has
finerletteringthan the other,but the portraitis fromthe same modelon both pieces.
C.P. had beenexplainedas CavinusPatavinns(Keary,Brit.Mus. Guide,No. 222),but the
styleof the medal alone disprovesthe attributionto that artist. Milanesi(in Armand,
iii. 193a) remarksthatone oftheextantmedalsofGiulianomaybe thatwhichis recorded
as havingbeen made forCardinalGiovannide' Mediciby the Sienese goldsmithGiov.
Batt. di Bernardino. The obversewithMagnusis also foundenlargedto 41 mm by the
border(Arm.,ii. 94, 4). I observethat the lettersC.P. have
additionof a laurel-wreath
beenexplainedas a signatureon a medalof LorenzoII., Duke ofUrbino(Arm.,iii. 191B).
MilanesisaysthatthelettersdoubtlessdenotetheFlorentine
Heretheeverfertile
goldsmith
Paolo di ClementeTassini,whowas bornin 1477. Armandsays thatthismedalis in the
FlorenceGallery,but it is not includedin Supino'scatalogue.
8 Tres, de Num., Md. ital., ii. PL XXXIT. 3 ; Heiss, Md. de la Renaissance, Florence,
i. PL XX. 5.
of the Renaissance.
59
withRomaon thereversewerethrown
numberofmedalsof the Magnifico
to the people.1
the piecewhichcomes
If theauthorshipofthesemedalsis uncertain,
theworkofGambello; on theother
to be mentionednextis undoubtedly
withLeo X. is quiteconjectural. It is a plaquette2in
hand,its connexion
a lionstanding
ofthe lateM. Gustave Dreyfus,representing
thecollection
above is
to left,its rightfore-foot
placed on a globe. The inscription
R ANIM V and belowis the signatureV CAMELIO FA * Martinori
describesthisas the onlymedal of Leo X. signedby the engraver.That
it does referto Leo at all is a matterof conjecture,based on the type,
of
and favouredby the factthat manyof the allegoricalrepresentations
thetimealludedto the Pope as a lion.3
Leo X. and the Duke de Nemoursare associatedon anotherpair
in stylefromthose just deof medals (PI. IV. 6 and 5) verydifferent
1 Brit.Mus. MS. Harl. 3462 f. 6 v. : 'dopoi Berecintiagetoal populogrannumerode
medagliedel prefatoMag00c Roma da riuerso.' Dr. Thomas Ashbyalso kindlysupplies
me with the followingpassages bearingon these medals: Marco AntonioAltieri(ed.
Romanoovvero
il NatalediRomanel 1513,
Pasqualueci,Giulianode' Medici elettocittadino
Rome, 1881,p. 52, afterdescribingthe speech made by a boy dressedas Roma in the
Theatreon thesecondday) ' et in questesimiliparole,per quelle Ninfe,che smontategli
di Medagliein forma
ne cavaronumeroinfinito
stavanoalii piedi,aperticertilorBorscioni,
et
d'argento,et ancoradi rame stampateda l'un de lati l'immaginedi S. Magnificentia,
di questi
dair altro,un Marteche sedeva,in spoglieacquistateda Nemici,con l'espressione
tali lettereC. P. cio,consensopubblico,e si sparsepertuttoil Teatro.' Paolo Palliolo of
delPatriziatoRomanoa Giulianoe Lorenzo
Le Festepel conferitnenlo
Fano (ed. O. Guerrini,
de' Medici,Bologna,1885,p. 109) ' intantoM. CamilloPortk)gentiluomoromano,autore
della presentefarsa,fecespargernel Treatro da li medesmiCoribantibuon numerodi
medagliedella qui annotata grandezza,in nulla partealie antique inferioridi bellezzaet
la testadel MagJulcon le litterequi descritte
arte. Da un lato ritrattanaturalmente
[MAG IVLIANVS MEDICES]. Da l'altrolato se vede Roma sotto spetie di una vaga
damigella,nuda tutta,excettoche tieneintornoun certomantoannodato sopra la spalla
sinistra. Sede sopracertitropheide scudi,ha in manola Vittoria. Dalle bande et sqtto
li piedisonle litteredescrittein questocerchio[CP ROMA].'
see Ashbyin P.B.S.R. vi. pp. 194 if.
On thesceneoftheceremony,
2 Arm.,iii. p. 45/)(Martinori,
Annali,Leone X., etc., p. 23). I have not seen the
piece.
8 As for instancein the processiondescribedby Chieregato(p. 6o, note 4). Is the
meantforRefrigerium
(requiem)animabusvestris(Jer.vi. 16, Matth.xi. 29) ?
inscription
If so,it is no coincidencethat amongthe Medicidevices used by Leo is a yoke withthe
mottosuave (Matth.xi. 30). For medalswiththis device,see Typotius,Hierogr.Pont.t
12 ; Venuti,Num.Rom.Pont.,p. 370,No. 12.
p. 31,No. 20; Bonanni,Num.Pont.,i. 163,
The last writerdescribesthispieceas an, ' emblema.' A specimenin theBritishMuseum
(75 mm.,set in a rim making86-5mm.),the onlyone I have seen,is hardlyearlierthan
medalwiththistypeever
the eighteenth
century; and I doubt whethera contemporary
foundon othercontemporary
existed. But the device is frequently
objects associated
withLeo; see,e.g.A. Marquand,RobbiaHeraldry(1919)figs.215,219.
6o
scribed.1Large and coarse,but powerful

theyare quite clearly
portraits,
the workof the same hand.2 The medal of Leo has been describedby
Fabriczyas the best that we have of him. The portraitof the Duke
(PL IV. 5)- the good one of Lorenzo'sthreesons- expresseshis lack of
ofcharacter,but seemsto add a touchofcynicismwhichhistory
strength
does not confirm.There is no doubt that these medals were made at
the beginningof Leo's reign. That of the Pope (PL IV. 6) is inscribed
Gloria et honorecoronastieu(tn) De(us), and bears the Medici shield
surmountedby crossedkeys and tiara ; it is thus a coronationmedal.
That of GiulianoshowsFlorencerecliningundera laurel-tree,
restingon
the Medicishield,withthe inscription
Reconciliatis
civibusmagnificentia
etpietate,referring
to the entryof Giulianointo Florencein Sept.,1512,
and the restorationof the Medicirule. But it was probablynot made
until afterLeo's election,and the summoningof Giulianoto Rome in
1513.3 The Duke is describedas Iulianus MedicesL(aurentii)F(ilius)
P.R. The last twolettersmeanPatriciusRomanus*
With these two large medals,it would appear, must be classed a
AntonioMaria Ciocchiof Montesansavino.6Born in
third,representing
he
was
on
1461,
promotedCardinalof S. Vitale in 1511,and afterwards
14 July,1514,of S. Prassede,being translatedto the see of Albano on
24 July,1521. He took a prominent
.partin the Lateran Councilwhich
was summoned,largelyat his owninstigation,
by JuliusII. in 1511,and
1 I referfordetailsto theBurlington
Magazine,xxxi. (1917), p. 182,wherebothmedals
are illustrated.
2 This community
of authorshiphas been observedby Bode, Zeitschr.
f. bild.Kunst.,
seemsto me
xv. p. 41, thoughthe affinity
of the artistto Sangallo,whichhe recognises,
in thatbothartistsworkedcoarselyand on a largescale. I may
to be purelysuperficial,
add that the idea that eitherof the medalsis an eighteenthcentury' restitution/as
suggestedby Milanesiin connexionwiththe medal of Leo X. (Arm.,iii. p. 62), and by
Armandhimself(ii. p. 94, 3 note)withthatofLorenzo,cannotbe reasonablyentertained.
* He was made a citizenand baron of Rome on 13 Sept., 1513. From Francesco
accountofthefestivities
on thisoccasion(Br. Mus.MS. Harl. 3462,quotedby
Chieregato's
Hist,ofthePapacy,v. p. 227) it appearsthatthelast car in theprocessionconCreighton,
tained ' Florenceweepingforherchildren,
whomshevainlyimploredCibele(sic)to restore.
Cibele'to consoleher proposedat last that Rome and Florenceshouldconfederate,
nay
shouldbecomeone togetherand enjoythe same rule. Florenceand Rome agreedto the
proposal,and medalswere.scatteredamongstthe crowdto celebratethe happy union/
ThesewerethemedalswithRoma on thereversedescribedabove (p. 57).
4 The dignityofPatriciusRomanuswas conferred
on Giulianoand Lorenzotie' Medici
at the same time; see the account of the ceremonyby Paolo Palliolo, ed. Guerrini,
citedabove (p. 59, note 1).
Armand,ii. 97, 19 ; Mus. Mazzuchellianum,
i. xlv. 1.
6i
sate fromMay, 1512,untilMarch,1517. The real object of this Council

was to counteractthe workof the rebelliousCardinalswho summoned
the Councilof Pisa ; and the part playedby the Cardinalof S. Prassede
on thismedal,whichdescribeshim
to by the inscription
maybe referred
as Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede, and Ec(clesiasticae)Li(bertatis)
Asser(tor)acerr(imus)SS(ectarum)q(ue)hos(tis)perp(etuus).The type is
a bird,holdinga wreathin its leftfoot,standingon a triplemount,the
wreathand the mountbeingelementsin the familycoat of arms. The
attribution
ofthismedalto thesamehandas thoseofLeo and hisbrother
discussedabove is due to Bode,1and is certainlyborneout by the illustrationin the MuseumMazzuchellianum.
medalswiththe portraitof Leo X. appear
But fewof the remaining
to be contemporary.One piecemay have been cast soonafterhis death
on the reverseare Fiat pax in virtute
tua
(PL X. 8).2 The inscriptions
(fromPs. cxxi. 7) and Memorieoptimipon(tificis), It shows three
figures,Peace, Justiceand Abundance,all standingto front. Peace
appliesa torchto a helmetand shieldlyingat herfeet. She holdsin her
righthand the Medicibadge,ofa diamondringaccompaniedwithplumes
and a scroll,on which,but forthe smallnessof the scale, we shouldbe
able to read the MedicimottoSEMPER. Justice holds sword,scales
and yoke(we have alreadynotedthe use ofthe yokeas a deviceby Leo).
Abundanceplaces herrighthand on herbosomand restsherleftarmon
a hornofplenty.
beingindeedmerelya disk
Althoughit is of no artisticimportance,
on both sides, a medal may be mentioned
of bronzewith inscriptions
herein the hope that some one may be able to explainthe occasionof
anno
its issue.3 On one side it readsLeonis DecimiPont. Max. beneficio
DominiMDXVII ; on the otherIo. Bap. BranconiusAquilanusa Cubculo Secretus. GiovanniBattista BranconidelTAquila,chamberlainof
the Pope, is otherwiseknownas the ownerof a Palace in the Borgo,for
whichRaphael furnished
plansin 1520,and whichwas destroyedin 1660.
before
or
in
He died
1525.*
1 Katal. Simon,No. 216. I have not seen an original.
2 Arm. ii. 113,22. Heiss,Md. de la Ren, Florence,i. p. 159,No. 6.
8 Venuti,p. x., mentionsone in the collectionof Baron Stosch. Thereis a specimen
in the BritishMuseum(42 mm.,cast).
4 E. Rodocanachi,Romeau tempsde JulesII., etc.,p. 205; C. Hlsenand H. Egger,
i. (Berlin1913)fol.55 v. andp. 31.
vonMartenvonHeemskerck
Skizzenbcher
Die rmischen
62
Two medalsof CardinalScaramuccia Trivulzio1mustnot be passed

over,sincetheyweremade, probably,in Rome between1517 and 1519.
Fabriczyhas claimedthemforCaradosso2 ; but an analysisof theirstyle
suggeststhattheymaybe regardedas earlyworksof Cellini.3.I believe
both versionsof the medal (ofwhichthe largeris illustratedin PL VIII.
8) to have been made by Celliniwhile,as he himselfadmits,he was
workingunderthe influenceol the older artist. The portraitshows a
in other
of handlingwhichwas sacrificed
certaincrispnessand freshness
latermedals (suchas thoseof Jean de Lorraineand PietroPiantanida)
to greaterfacilityand subtletyoftechnique.
thework
The limitsofthisessayabsolveus fromthetaskofstudying
VII.
But
we
have
the
carried
of CelliniunderClement
historyof the
it losesits
medal in Rome far enough. It cannotbe said thathereafter
Roman
its
character
becomes
more
official
property; indeed,
specifically
accentuated. That veryfact,however,deprivesit ofmuchofits artistic
interest. Good artistswho workedin Rome afterthis time,eitheron
the coinsor on the medalsof the Popes, seldomput theirbest workinto
them: Valerio Belli, GiovanniBernardida Castelbolognese,
Giovanni
are
best
Leone
Leoni
medals
which
have no
Zacchi,
representedby
connexionwithRome. AlessandroCesatimayappearto be an exception
to the rule; his best workwas done in Rome, but he is a second-rate
artist,thoughin point of mere techniquehe takes a very high rank.
Occasionallywe finda medallistproducingwork of fine quality for
privatepersonsin Rome. Thereis,forinstance,a smallgroupofmedals,
some signedwitha monogramof the lettersT and P, othersunsigned
but apparentlyby thesamehand,whichseemto have beenmadein Rome
roundthe year 1540,and represent,
amongothers,OttavioFarneseand
his wifeMargaretof Austria,and the CardinalsPietroBembo, Ippolito
II. d'Este and Antonio Pucci.4 They are among the most skilfully
executedand at the same time thoughtfully
conceivedportraitsof the
time,showingmoreinsightinto characterthan the worksof Pastorino,
Rodocanachigivesthedate of Branconi'sdeathas in the text; but Lanciani [Storiadegli
Scavi i. p. 211) reportshimstillalive in 1543.
1 Bishop of Como,12 April,1508; Cardinalof S. Ciriaco,6
July,1517 ; resignedhis
ofComo,1519; administrator
ofsee ofPiacenza,26 Sept. 1519; resigned,
bishopric
1525;
died,3 Aug.,1527.
2 I tal. Medals,
p. 171.
3 Burlington
Magazine,xviii. (1910),p. 14.
* Burlington
Magazine,xxix. (1916),pp. 251 f.
63
with whichthey have for the most part been confounded. It seems
Tommasod'AntonioPerugino,
mayrepresent
possiblethatthemonogram
called Fagiuolo, who was appointedto the Papal Mint in 1533 and
workedthereuntil1541.1 The factthat no medal of a Pope can, as far
as we know,be attributedto himis, in view of what has just been said,
withtheidentification
proposed.
anythingbut incompatible
It remainsto expressmy thanksto those ownersof medals (especiallyMr. MauriceRosenheim)and directorsof Museumsto whosekindness in allowingme to have casts the illustrationof this articleis due,
as willbe seenfromthe keyto the plates; and also to Mr.W. H. Woodward, who was good enoughto read my manuscript,and make some
very useful suggestions,especiallyin regard to Caradosso. But my
especial debt is to Dr. Thomas Ashby,who has read the proofswith
too numeradditionsand corrections,
greatcare and providedimportant
in each case.
ous to be acknowledged
September,1919.
KEY TO THE PLATES.

Wherenot otherwisedescribed,the specimensillustratedare in the
BritishMuseumand are of bronzeor brass. Mere gildingis not mentioned.
Plate
1.
2.
3.
4.
I.
Guaccialotti,Pius II., Arms. See p. 19.

.
Pius II., Pelican. See p. 19.
NiccoloPalmieri. See p. 20.

,.
di Geremia,Paolo Dotti. (MaurideRosenheimColCristoforo
lection.) See p. 28.
SixtusIV., 1481. See pp. 29, 30.
Guaccialotti,
5.
Alfonsoof Calabria. See pp. 32, 66.
6.
della Rovere,reverse. (Paris.) See p. 38, note 1.

7. Gianfrancesco
1 Martinori,
Annali,ClementeVII. pp. 153, 168 ; Paolo III. p. 18.
64
Plate II.
1. Guaccialotti,CalixtusIII. See p. 19.

Guillaume d'Estouteville. (Maurice Rosenheim
2.
,,
Collection.) See p. 20.
Pier
Barbo,Arms. See p. 22.
3.
di Geremia,LodovicoScarampl. See pp. 23, 33.
Cristoforo
4.
Palace ofS. Marco. See p. 22.
Paul
rev.,
II.,
5.
di Geremia.,Paul II., TribuneofSt.Peter's. See p. 24.
6. Cristoforo
7. AristotileFioravanti. Paul II., Letitia Scholastica. (Maurice
RosenheimCollection.) See p. 22.
Plate III.
di Geremia,Paul II. (MauriceRosenheimCollection.)
1. Cristoforo
See p. 24.
2. Andreada Viterbo(?), Paul II., Bulla medal. (MauriceRosenheim
di Geremia,Guillaumed'Estouteville. See p. 28.
Cristoforo
3.
Marcello
4.
Capodiferro.See p. 29.
5. Lysippus,MartinusPhilethicus. (Paris.) See p. 33.
6. Lysippus,Giov. AlviseToscani (rev.). See p. 35.
7. Lysippus,RaffaelRiario. See p. 34.
Plate IV.
1. Andreada Viterbo(?), Paul II. (MauriceRosenheimCollection.)
See p. 30.
di Geremia,Constantine
the Great. See pp. 26, 40.
2. Cristoforo
Alfonso
V.
,,
3.
(Maurice Rosenheim CollecSee
tion.)
p. 24
4. Guaccialotti(?), SixtusIV. (Ownerunknown.) See p. 27.
5. Giulianode' Medici,Florence. See pp. 59, 60.
6. Leo X, Arms. See pp. 59, 60.
Plate V.
1. Lysippus,Malitia de Gesualdo. (Victoriaand AlbertMuseum,
SaltingCollection.) See p. 34.
2. Lysippus,SixtusIV., PonteSisto. See p. 35.
3. SixtusIV., Coronation.(MauriceRosenheimCollection.)See p. 35.
4. Gambello,SixtusIV., Audience. (Brussels.) See p. 35.
65
Plate V. (continued).
5. Sixtus IV., Fortressof Ostia. (MauriceRosenheimCollection.)
See p. 35.
6. Giulianodella Rovere. See p. 36, note1.
Plate VI.
1. Lysippus,Giov.AlviseToscani (obv.). See pp. 34, 35.
2. Guillaumede Poitiers. Mercuryand Church. See p. 40.
3: Lysippus,Self. See p. 34.
4. Candida,Clementeand Giulianodella Rovere. See p. 38.
Gamberia. (MauriceRosenheim
Collection.)See p. 39.
5. Bernardino
6. GirolamoCallagrani. (Munich.) See p. 38.
7. InnocentVIII., Peace,Justiceand Abundance. See p. 39.
Plate VII.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
GuglielmoBatonatti. (MauriceRosenheimCollection.) See p. 36.

SchoolofLysippus,DiomedeCaraffa.. (Florence.) See p. 37.
AscanioMariaSforza. See p. 36.
SchoolofLysippus,FranciscoVidal. (Paris.) See p. 37.
GiovanniCandida (?), Self. (Modena.) See p. 37.
AlexanderVI., Borgiabulland angel. Lead. See p. 42.
Alexander VI, Coronation. (Maurice Rosenheim Collection.)
See p. 41.
Plate VIII.
AlexanderVI., CastelSant*Angelo. See p. 42.
InnocentVIII., Arms. See p. 39.
Caradosso,JuliusII., St. Peter's. See p. 49.
JuliusII., Shepherd. See p. 49.

Giancristoforo
Romano, Julius II., Peace and Fortune. Lead.
Rosenheim
(Maurice
Romano (?), JuliusII., Belvedere. See p. 54.
6. Giancristoforo
7. Giulianode' Medici. Virtueand Fortune. See p. 58.
8. Cellini (?), ScaramucciaTrivulzio. (WhitcombeGreeneCollection.) See p. 62.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Plate IX.
1. Caradosso,Bramante. (MauriceRosenheimCollection.)Seep. 48.
2. Caradosso,FederigoII. Gonzaga. Silver. (HenryOppenheimer
F
66
Plate IX. (continued).

3. Pier Maria Serbaldi,JuliusII., Conversion
ofSt. Paul. See p. 48.
Romano,JuliusII., Civita Vecchia(uninscribed).
4. Giancristoforo
See p. 54.
,,
,,
5.
(Paris.)
Justiceand blacksmith.
See p. 53.
6.
CivitaVecchia.(MauriceRosen
heimCollection.) See p. 53.

Palace
7.
ofJustice. See p. 53.
8.
Shepherd.(Paris.) See p. 53.

Pier
Maria
Serbaldi
Centutncelle.
9.
(Paris.) See p. 53.
(?), JuliusII.,
Plate X.
1. Pier Maria Serbaldi (?), Julius II., Justice and Abundance.
See p. 55.
2. JuliusII., Arms. (Paris.) See' p. 56.
3. Gabrielede' Gabrielli. (Milan.) See p. 56.
4. BernardinoCarvajal. (Victoriaand AlbertMuseum.) See p. 56.
5. Leo X. See p. 58.
6. Giuliano de' Medici, Roma. (Maurice RosenheimCollection.)
See pp. 57, 58.
7. Giulianode' Medici. See p. 58.
8. Leo X., Peace,Abundance,
and Justice. See p. 61.
Note.- The monogramengraved on the shoulder-plateof the

armour worn by Alfonsoof Calabria, on the medal by Guaccialotti
(PI. I. 6), is the markof the armourer(a Milanese?) who made the suit.
See Burlington
Magazine,xxxvi. (1920),p. 49.
P. B. S. R. IX. PL. I.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
PIUS II.-SIXTUS IV.
P. B. S. R. IX. PL. II.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
CALIXTUS Ill.-PAUL II.
P. B. 8. R. IX. PL. III.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
PAUL II.-SIXTUS
IV.
P. B. S. R. IX. PL. IV.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
PAUL II.-LEO
X.
P. B. S. R. IX. PL. V.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
SIXTUS IV.
P. B. 8. R. IX. PL. VI.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
SIXTUS
IV.-INNOCENT
VIII.
P. B. 8. R. IX. PL. VII.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
INNOCENT VIII.-ALEXANDER VI.
P. B. S. R. IX. PL. VIII.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
INNOCENT
VIII.-LEO
X.
P. B. 3. R. IX. PL. IX.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
JULIUS II.-LEO
X.
P. B. S. R. IX. PL. X.
ROMAN MEDALLISTS.
JULIUS
II.-LEO
X.

The Roman Medallists of The Renaissance To The Time of Leo X / by G.F. Hill

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The Roman Medallists of The Renaissance To The Time of Leo X / by G.F. Hill

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PAPERS OF THE BRITISH

PAPERS QF THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ROME.

THE ROMAN MEDALLISTS OF THE

The Roman Medallists

The British School at Rome.

Fig. 1.- Nicholas V. By Andrea Guaccialotti.

Niccol Palmieri,bishop of Orte, of whom he has leftan interesting

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

sincereenough. By the time when he came to make his next medal,

The British School at Rome.

NiccolPalmieri,whichhas come downto us in twoforms. The earlier,

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

Gloria Ispanie of the Calixtus,and that the nude genius holdingthe

The British School at Rome.

in whichthe heretickingof Bohemia,GeorgePodiebrad,was

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

- goingback as faras the secondeditionof Vasari,1568Tradition

The British School at Rome.

Scarampi; theyare even of the same diameter,an itemwhichmay be

3 Mantegnais firstknownto have been in communication

The Roman Medallists' of the Renaissance.

made a medal of the Count Federigoof Montefeltro,

The British School at Rome.

would have identified

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

may have modelledCosimo'slikeness,even if he did not make a medal

The British School at Rome.

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

The reverseof the medal of Costanza Bentivoglio,1

The British School at Rome.

nearly3 inches in diameter,was a remarkableachievementfor the

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

Fig. 2.- The Consistory Medal of Paul

The British School at Rome.

Acrossthe fieldis engravedthe date, MCCCCLXXXI ; and the mottois

The Roman Medallists

or Italiaque restituaand the date on a

The British School at Rome.

The Roman Medallists

The British School at Rome.

1471, when Giulianowas promotedCardinal,and 1484, when Sixtus

The Roman Medallists

The British School at Rome.

of Clementeand Giulianodella Rovere (PL VI. 4). A medal of Gianfrancescodella Rovere,grand-nephew

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

{Mons Regalis) on 5 Nov., 1490. We may thereforedate the medal

The British School at Rome.

just claim. Fuit humanasetamatorpads, says Infessura. On the other

The Roman Medallists

1 The medal withthe reversedesignof a cross chargedwith nine rosettesmay be

The British School at Rome.

in Martinori'sown words- is the originalon which that of Hadrian

The Roman Medallists

true that the medallistwas back in Milan by 24 June,1he cannothave

* Illustratedby W. H. Woodward,CesareBorgia,at p. 396 ; cp. p. 378.

The British School at Rome.

wise Eliahu Ber, the physician/in whosehonourthe medal was cast.

Fig. 4.- The Medat. of Fourvires. h scale.

at Rome,and withthe yearof the Pope's death; JuliusII. immediately

The Roman Medallists of the Renaissance.

Inquisition. This generalconclusionhas certainlymoreattractiveness

The British School at Rome.

Sforza,aridtheothersalreadymentioned. Thenwe have twocastmedals,