Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne by Giovanni Hamerani Bronze, 50.9 mm Ø, 56.3 g Obverse: Bust of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne facing left, wearing laurel wreath and armor. Around, PR · HENR · A · TVR ARV · VIC · TVREN . On truncation, HAMERANVS . Reverse: Three allegorical figures standing. On the left, Valor, with helmet, breastplate, shield, and spear. In the center, Honor, with cornucopia and spear. On the right, Justice, with balance and overturned cornucopia. Around, corresponding to each of the figures, VIRTVS · HONOS · AEQVITAS . Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, was born in Sedan in 1611. He was the son of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, duc de Bouillon and Elizabeth of Nassau. After his father died in 1623, Turenne was send to learn the art of war with his maternal uncles Maurice and Frederick Henry. Starting in 1630, he was in the service of the French and led various campaigns. He was made a marshal of France in 1643 and was appointed marshal-general of the camps and armies of the King in 1660. On July 27, 1675, While examining a position on the Rhine, Turenne was killed by a cannon shot. A simple and modest man who was respected by his soldiers, he showed great prowess in war, using calculation, reflection, and technique to perform skillfully in his endeavors. References: Börner (Berlin) n. 1285; Johnson (Johnson) n. 170; Vannel & Toderi (Bargello) n. 645-646
Impressive piece Joe with a wonderfully classic reverse design. At first glance I missed the obverse sig of Giovanni Hamerani, a member of the family who produced so many great papal medals. And the execution/style is certainly at a high level consistent with the fine products of the family. Thanks for sharing and the write up.
It's unknown when it was struck, but was likely created either in Turenne's later years or possibly as a posthumous honor, so likely circa 1675. Medallic art is typically classified by the artist's location and style. Even though the subject is a Frenchman, since the artist, Giovanni Hamerani, is Italian, the medal is classified as Italian.
Giovanni Hamerani's dates are 1649 to 1705 and he was, among other things, medallist to the popes from Clement X (following his father's death in 1677) to the early years of Clement XI. So the dates work (altho according to my references he did not use this signature on papal medals). I'd not encountered a Hamerani outside of the papal series (but haven't looked either). In addition to holding a papal office Giovanni was probably in charge of the family's medal business so it's most reasonable the family could have been privately commissioned. In addition to the design and dies, they would have been able to bang out an initial supply of medals as well altho production could have been done in France as well at some point. To me this seems like a posthumous issue - especially given his unexpected death - but it would be fascinating to know precisely the occasion of issue and how the Hameranis got involved. What fun!
