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<p>[QUOTE="ycon, post: 3193839, member: 91771"]Way back in May, I won this coin of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, but Italian export licences being what they are, it did not arrive until today. The condition isn't perfect, but I love the way the toning adds a painterly volume to the portrait.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><img src="https://www.sixbid.com/media/auction_images/4881/4071774l.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b>Duchy of Milan </b></p><p><b>Galeazzo Maria Sforza</b> (1466-1476). Testone 1474-76. Right: armored duke's bust on the right. GALEAZ • M • SF • VICECOS • DVX • MLI • QIT Galeazzo Maria Sforza Vicecomitis Ducis Mediolani Quintus: "Galeazzo Maria Sforza Visconti, Fifth Duke of Milan" - Reverse: coat of arms surmounted by helmet with crest decorated with crested dragon; on the sides burning branches with buckets and initials. PP • ANGLE • Q3 • CO • AC • IANVE • D • Papie Angleriae Que Comes ac Ianuae Dominus: "Count of Pavia and Angera and Lord of Genoa" - gr. 9.56 - Old cabinet tone (CNI V / 171/76) (Crippa II / 197 / 6B) (Biaggi No. 1548)</p><p><br /></p><p>Beginning in 1474 Galeazzo issued the first Testones, so-called because of the "big head" (testa) on the obverse. The coin type would become popular all over Italy, before spreading to France (teston), England and Scotland (testoon). With their naturalistic portraits, these coins are often seen as one of the first "modern" coinages.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Piero_Pollaiuolo_Portrait_of_Galeazzo_Maria_Sforza.jpg/800px-Piero_Pollaiuolo_Portrait_of_Galeazzo_Maria_Sforza.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Portrait of Galeazzo by Piero del Pollaiuolo (Uffizi) </p><p><br /></p><p>Galeazzo was a tyrant noted for his extreme cruelty, which resulted in his assassination two years later, in 1476.</p><p><br /></p><p>The engraver of the dies has traditionally thought to have been the sculptor Cristoforo Foppa, known as Caradossa. (Some modern scholars have disputed this attribution.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Caradosso is described in several contemporaneous sources:</p><p><br /></p><p>Vasari: Caradosso, a most excellent goldsmith, who had no peer in making dies</p><p><br /></p><p>Cellini, of whom I also own a <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-best-money-in-christendom.318847/#post-3117577" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-best-money-in-christendom.318847/#post-3117577">Testone</a>, offered high praise:</p><blockquote><blockquote><p><br /></p><p>There was in Rome another most excellent craftsman of ability, who was a Milanese named Messer Caradosso." He dealt in nothing but little chiselled medals, made of plates of metal, and such-like things. I have seen of his some paxes in half relief, and some Christs a palm in length wrought of the thinnest golden plates, so exquisitely done that I esteemed him the greatest master in that kind I had ever seen, and envied him more than all the rest together.</p></blockquote></blockquote><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">He is also mentioned in an hyberbole by Bernardo Bellincioni celebrating the greatest talents of Milan:</font></p><blockquote><blockquote><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p><p><font size="4">Nature does not tie an apple to the branch</font></p><p><font size="4">Or Spring flowers to the grass,</font></p><p><font size="4">As well as precious stones from the hand of Caradosso come forth</font></p><p><font size="4">Set in jewelry for the person who judges them.</font></p><p><font size="4">Milan, take pleasure that within your walls,</font></p><p><font size="4">You have today the honor of excellent men:</font></p><p><font size="4">Del Vinci, whose designs and colours</font></p><p><font size="4">Make the moderns and ancients fear...</font></p><p><font size="4"><br /></font></p></blockquote></blockquote><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="ycon, post: 3193839, member: 91771"]Way back in May, I won this coin of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, but Italian export licences being what they are, it did not arrive until today. The condition isn't perfect, but I love the way the toning adds a painterly volume to the portrait. [B] [/B] [IMG]https://www.sixbid.com/media/auction_images/4881/4071774l.jpg[/IMG] [B]Duchy of Milan Galeazzo Maria Sforza[/B] (1466-1476). Testone 1474-76. Right: armored duke's bust on the right. GALEAZ • M • SF • VICECOS • DVX • MLI • QIT Galeazzo Maria Sforza Vicecomitis Ducis Mediolani Quintus: "Galeazzo Maria Sforza Visconti, Fifth Duke of Milan" - Reverse: coat of arms surmounted by helmet with crest decorated with crested dragon; on the sides burning branches with buckets and initials. PP • ANGLE • Q3 • CO • AC • IANVE • D • Papie Angleriae Que Comes ac Ianuae Dominus: "Count of Pavia and Angera and Lord of Genoa" - gr. 9.56 - Old cabinet tone (CNI V / 171/76) (Crippa II / 197 / 6B) (Biaggi No. 1548) Beginning in 1474 Galeazzo issued the first Testones, so-called because of the "big head" (testa) on the obverse. The coin type would become popular all over Italy, before spreading to France (teston), England and Scotland (testoon). With their naturalistic portraits, these coins are often seen as one of the first "modern" coinages. [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Piero_Pollaiuolo_Portrait_of_Galeazzo_Maria_Sforza.jpg/800px-Piero_Pollaiuolo_Portrait_of_Galeazzo_Maria_Sforza.jpg[/IMG] Portrait of Galeazzo by Piero del Pollaiuolo (Uffizi) Galeazzo was a tyrant noted for his extreme cruelty, which resulted in his assassination two years later, in 1476. The engraver of the dies has traditionally thought to have been the sculptor Cristoforo Foppa, known as Caradossa. (Some modern scholars have disputed this attribution.) Caradosso is described in several contemporaneous sources: Vasari: Caradosso, a most excellent goldsmith, who had no peer in making dies Cellini, of whom I also own a [URL='https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-best-money-in-christendom.318847/#post-3117577']Testone[/URL], offered high praise: [INDENT][INDENT] There was in Rome another most excellent craftsman of ability, who was a Milanese named Messer Caradosso." He dealt in nothing but little chiselled medals, made of plates of metal, and such-like things. I have seen of his some paxes in half relief, and some Christs a palm in length wrought of the thinnest golden plates, so exquisitely done that I esteemed him the greatest master in that kind I had ever seen, and envied him more than all the rest together.[/INDENT][/INDENT] [SIZE=4] He is also mentioned in an hyberbole by Bernardo Bellincioni celebrating the greatest talents of Milan:[/SIZE] [INDENT][INDENT][SIZE=4] Nature does not tie an apple to the branch Or Spring flowers to the grass, As well as precious stones from the hand of Caradosso come forth Set in jewelry for the person who judges them. Milan, take pleasure that within your walls, You have today the honor of excellent men: Del Vinci, whose designs and colours Make the moderns and ancients fear... [/SIZE][/INDENT][/INDENT][/QUOTE]
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