A somewhat random grouping of Italian medals which are associated to each other by the fact that they are all from the collection of Sir Timothy Clifford, former director of the National Galleries of Scotland. Domenico Fontana by Domenico Poggini, 1589 Bronze, 40.6 mm Ø, 31.2 g Obverse: Bust of Domenico Poggini facing right, bearded, wearing a doublet, ruff, and medal suspended from a chain. Around, DOMINIC · FONTANA CIV · RO · COM · PALAT · ET EQ · AVR : (Domenico Fontana, Roman Citizen, Count of the Palatine, Knight of the Aurelian). Reverse: Four obelisks, each surmounted by a cross. Around, IVSSV SIXTI · V · PON · O · M · EREXIT (He Erected Them By Order of the Most Excellent Pope Sixtus V). In exergue, 1589 . Domenico Fontana (1543 - 1607) was an Italian architect who worked primarily in Rome. Employed by Pope Sixtus V as papal architect, he worked on the pope's renewal of the city. In 1586, he was tasked with the removal of the ancient Egyptian obelisk from the Vatican Hill and its subsequent erection in the St. Peter's Square. He published a detailed account of this feat, Della trasportatione dell'obelisco Vaticano et delle fabriche di nostro signore Papa Sisto V, in 1590. He would raise a further three obelisks in Rome: outside St. Mary Major Basilica in 1587, outside St. John Lateran Basilica in 1588, and in the Piazza del Popolo in 1589. References: Attwood (Italian Medals) n. 825; Börner (Berlin) n. 619; Toderi & Vannel (XVI Secolo) n. 1498; Vannel & Toderi (Bargello) n. 811-812 Cosimo II de' Medici by Gaspare Mola, 1610 Lead, 40.2 mm Ø, 28.5 g Obverse: Bust of Cosimo II de' Medici facing right, wearing armor with turned down collar, cuirass, draped mantle, and the cross of the Order of S. Stefano. Around, COSMVS · II · MAGNVS · DVX · ETRVRIÆ · IIII · (Cosimo II, Fourth Grand Duke of Etruria). Under the bust, 1610 . On truncation, GASP · M · . Reverse: Scepter and crown surrounded by six balls. Around, PREMIA VIRTVTIS (The Reward for Virtue). Cosimo II de' Medici (1590 - 1621) was the eldest son of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Christina of Lorraine. He was tutored by Galileo Galilei from 1605 to 1608, and married Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria in 1608. Upon his father's death in 1609, Cosimo became Grand Duke, though the administration of Tuscany was delegated to his ministers due to his precarious health. Cosimo died from tuberculosis in 1621 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Ferdinando II. On this specimen, Cosimo's bust lacks the large moustache present on the medals with this design held in the Bargello collection. References: cf. Vannel & Toderi (Bargello) n. 64-65 Domenico Lazzarini Attributed to an anonymous Paduan artist. Bronze, 89.8 mm Ø, 189.3 g Obverse: Bust of Domenico Lazzarini facing right. Around, DOMINICVS LAZZARINVS DE MVRRO PATRICIVS MACERATENSIS. Reverse: A female figure, leaning against a pillar with the bust of Mercury; holding a mirror in her left hand and a wreath in her right; her left foot on top of a serpent upon books. To the left, a temple with HONOS inscribed above the entrance. Around, VRIT · EN · FVLG · SVO · QVI · PRAEGRAVAT · ART · INFR · SE · POSIT · . Domenico Lazzarini (1668 - 1734), a patrician of Morrovalle in Macerata, was a professor of Greek and Latin literature at the University of Padua. Two of his notable students were the poets Giulia Baitelli and Camilla Solar d'Asti Fenaroli. When researching this medal, I discovered that it is also from the collection of Cesare Johnson, pictured in his publication of the collection from 1990. References: Johnson (Collezione Johnson) n. 678 [this piece]; Vannel & Toderi (Bargello) n. 121
Beautiful medals. Not uncommon to see that the first two were holed for chains (even though it seems like sacrilege to despoil such a beautiful piece). People have been making coins and medals into jewelry since the inception of coinage. Most coins that were holed or pierced throughout history were done to be worn around the neck or affixed to an article of clothing. I can appreciate the fullsome female figure in the third medal which represents the ideal of feminine beauty of the period. How different from the stick figures that today's fashion dictates as the modern ideal.
