Pope Alexander VI / Coronation Bronze, 45.9 mm Ø, 45.5 g Anonymous Roman artist, 1492. Obverse: Bust of Alexander VI facing left, tonsured, wearing cope decorated with arabesques and oval morse. Around, · ALEXANDER · · VI · PONT · MAX · (Alexander VI, Supreme Pontiff). Reverse: The Pope seated on a platform under a canopy, the papal tiara being placed on his head, surrounded by crowds, including prelates, soldiers, and a horseman. In the background, various architecture. In exergue, CORONAT (Crowned). Rodrigo de Borja was elected pope on August 11, 1492, taking the name Alexander VI (so as not to be confused with Antipope Alexander V). He was crowned on August 26, 1492, in a ceremony filled with splendor and magnificence not seen before. Alexander dies on August 18, 1503, at the age of 72. The author of the medal is unknown. Several scholars have attributed the work to Caradosso, an attribution which Modesti in general agrees with while noting that there is no documentation of Caradosso in Rome at this time. Hill had also noted this point and states that the piece is in the tradition created by Cristoforo di Geremia in Rome. References: Börner 1997, no. 329 Hill 1930, no. 853 Johnson and Martini 1986, nos. 588-590 Modesti 2002, no. 165 Vannel and Toderi 2003, nos. 279-283
Awesome coin @Iosephus. The world shaping history of this period is truly fascinating. If you haven't already you should post this as an entry in @lordmarcovan 's give away. I think he would like this post. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/wa...again-july-2017-giveaway.299329/#post-2791159 Have you seen the Netflix show Borgia? I thought it was much better than the Showtime version once I got in to it a bit. http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1736341/ So... in the ancient sub-forum it is customary to "pile on" with coins/info that is remotely related to the OP to keep the thread going and drive discussion for a bit. Is that sort of thing frowned on in the World Forum? If not I'm going to pile on with a few popes in my collection.
Nice JPII coins @Curtisimo ! I haven't seen the show, but the Borgias are certainly quite famous (infamous). Here's the other Borgia (Alfons de Borja) that became pope:
Awesome medal from a very important figure! @Curtisimo - I too love Borgia (haven't seen season 2 yet - haven't been able to convince my wife to continue after season 1, and rarely do I have time to watch tv by myself...). Never bothered with the Showtime version - seems to me showtime is too interested in sexing up everything than any sort of accuracy... Wish I could share something related, but sadly I have none.
Lovely medal, as usual. I particularly like the intricate reverse on this one. I think I've said this before, but for a Renaissance medallic composition from the end of the 15th century (and such a pivotal year in Western history, at that!) the style seems surprisingly modern, particularly the lettering. (Naturally I mean "modern", as in, "wow, those artists were so far advanced ahead of their time", not "modern" as in "it's a modern fake".) I thinking watched one episode of one of the TV series about the Borgias. As I recall, for TV historical drama, it wasn't bad, but I got distracted by something else.
Indeed, the style of medals from back then is completely different than the coins of the era. Embarrassingly, I didn't even think of the 1492 connection until you mentioned it (and even then it took me a few seconds).
