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iosephus - Papal Medals

  • Papal Medals

a public collection · viewed 3135 times · Linked to communities: Medal Collectors (Featured)

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Description

A collection of papal medals from the Renaissance and Baroque eras.  While currently small and in its quite formative years, this collection hopes to span the popes from the death of Nicholas V (1455) through the reign of Clement XII (1740).  Only contemporary medals are included, as I find the several series of restitution medals to be generally lacking in historical and artistic interest.

9 items

Paul III (1550) - Holy Year. Silver. Diameter 41.5mm, 32.3 grams. Obverse: Bust of Paul III facing right. Reverse: A birds-eye view of Rome.

This medal design was intended to be used for the 1550 medal of Paul III celebrating the Holy Year, as evidenced by the design on the cope. Another version of this medal also features writing on the cope beneath the illustration acknowledging the Holy Year. During a Holy Year, it is practice for the faithful to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Paul had announced the Holy Year, but died on November 10, 1549, before its opening. The reverse inscription translates as "Nourishing Rome".
 
Gregory XIII (1580) - Chapel of St. Gregory of Nazianzus. Bronze. Diameter 38mm, 18.2 grams. Obverse: Bust of Gregory XIII facing left. Reverse: Interior view of the Gregorian Chapel.

Gregory XIII commissioned the completion of a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica begun by Michelangelo.  In 1580, the remains of St. Gregory of Nazianzus were brought to the chapel and placed in an urn underneath the altar.
 
Innocent X (1653) - Holy Spirit. Silver. Diameter 38mm, 26.1 grams. Obverse: Bust of Innocent X facing left. Reverse: Radiant dove with wings outstretched surrounded by laurel branch wreath.

Annual medal for Year IX (1653) of Innocent X's reign. The dove is a representation of the Holy Spirit, and the laurel branches represent victory. Combining the dove with the inscription (which translates as "Fill the World"), the medal calls for the Holy Spirit to fill the world. It might also be related to the first part of Wisdom 1:7, quoniam spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum ("For the spirit of the Lord fills the world").
 
Alexander VII (1657) - The Plague. Silver. Diameter 35mm, 19.7 grams. Obverse: Bust of Alexander VII facing right, wearing a decorative cope. Reverse: Saint Peter descends from heaven, holding a key, towards victims of the plague. At the right is the angel of death, holding a skull and sword. St. Peter's Basilica can be seen in the left background.

Annual medal for Year III (1657) of Alexander VII's reign. The dreaded plague appeared in Rome in May of 1956. Pope Alexander VII took charge of the situation and instituted measures to try and control the outbreak. He would also make frequent public appearances to calm the people. By June of 1657, the plague in Rome was coming to an end, though Rome lost about one-eighth its population (15,000 people) in that time.
 
Innocent XI (1679) - Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen. Bronze. Diameter 47mm, 39.9 grams. Obverse: Bust of Innocent XI facing right, wearing papal tiara and decorative cope. Reverse: Allegorical figure kneeling facing left, offering a smoking vase to an angel seated above on a cloud holding an olive branch. At the foot of the figure rests a lamb, and in the background an obelisk and temple can be seen at the right.

Medal issued to commemorate the peace treaties signed at Nijmegen, engraved by Giovanni Hamerani. The kneeling figure on the reverse is meant to represent Innocent XI, praying for peace. The vase with billowing smoke represents the prayers of the pontiff, while the angel holding an olive brance represents peace. The lamb at the figure's foot also represents peace. The reverse inscription translates as "He Made Peace in the Land".

From 1672 to 1678, several European countries were at war during the Franco-Dutch War. Innocent XI, of anti-French sentiment, was an important impetus in the peace negotiations from 1676 to 1679. In 1678 and 1679, several peace treaties were signed at the Dutch city of Nijmegen between France, Holland, Spain, Sweden, and the Holy Roman Empire. Although Holland was a Protestant country, Innocent XI found himself supporting them against the invasions by Catholic France.

 
Alexander VIII (c. 1700) - Tomb Monument. Bronze. Diameter 65mm, 89.4 grams. Engraved by Ferdinand de Saint-Urbain. Obverse: Bust of Alexander VIII facing left, wearing cassock, cap, and a decorative stole. Reverse: The tomb monument for Alexander VIII.

Posthumous medal issued in 1700 to commemorate the tomb being constructed for the late Alexander VIII.  An early, and possibly original, strike.

Alexander VIII's great-nephew, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, commissioned this tomb monument to be built. The tomb was finally completed in 1725. This medal from 1700 displays an intermediate stage in the design of the tomb and its monument. Carlo Enrico Sanmartino was the designer of the tomb, and its sculptor was Angelo de' Rossi. The tomb bears a great resemblance to, and was inspired by, the tomb monument of Pope Urban VIII, created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The figures standing at the base of the monument in the medal give an idea as to the scale of the tomb.

 
Alexander VIII (c. 1700) - Tomb Monument . Bronze. Diameter 64.5mm, 103.8 grams.

As the above medal, but a later strike.
 
Alexander VIII (c. 1700) - Tomb Monument (Obverse Wax on Slate Model). Wax on Slate. Diameter 74.5mm, 48.2 grams. Sculpted by Ferdinand de Saint-Urbain. Obverse: Bust of Alexander VIII facing left.

Original wax on slate model for the obverse of the Alexander VIII posthumous tomb medal.  Presumably unique, this model would have been created ahead of preparing the dies to allow the artist to visualize the design and possibly show the commissioner the expected final design. Presumably Unique.
 
Clement XII (1733) - Construction of the Façade of the Lateran Basilica. Gilt bronze. Diameter 71.5mm, 163.3 grams. Engraved by Ottone Hamerani. Obverse: Half-figure of Clement XII facing right, hand raised in benediction, with tiara and decorative cope. The cope features a scene of a praying Saint Andrew Corsini and below, the papal coat of arms. Reverse: Frontal view of the façade of the Lateran Basilica. Within cartouche, the ground plan for the basilica's façade and narthex.

Foundation medal for the construction of the façade of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, engraved by Ottone Hamerani. The reverse illustrates the planned design for the façade by the architect Alessandro Galilei, likely taken from an engraving by Stefano Pozzo released in October of 1733.  An example of this medal was placed in the foundation on December 8, 1733.

This gilt medal appears to be at the least an early strike, and quite possibly an original, though the gilding does not necessarily indicate an original strike. However, the die states do give clues to dating the strike. First, however, is the problem that there appear to be two obverse dies that were used, with the only easily discernable difference being the distance between the lower of the pope's extended fingers and the first "I" in the regnal year. Based on the few examples that I have images of, it seems that the dies were used indeterminately with three different reverse designs, one being this Lateran Basilica façade design. However, it appears that both dies suffered in later years from flaws such as craacks, pitting, and rust, and none of these are present on this example (this die noticeably developed a crack through the "L" and "E" in the pope's name). Turning to the reverse, several large die cracks formed on the bottom through the cartouche. The latest examples show three strong cracks, as well as significant rim cuds around the border. Other examples show only two cracks, evidently earlier in the progression of the failure of the die. Again, this example features none of those faults, featuring a pristine reverse die. The superior condition of the dies used in this strike, combined with the excellent strike quality and gilding, point unequivocally to an early, and very possibly original, striking.