MEDAGLIA. – The word m. derives from the Latin metalla and in the Middle Ages denoted the half-denarius, or obol. When this fell into disuse, the term remained in use to designate a coin no longer in circulation, so that by extension every ancient coin, especially a Roman or Greek one, came to be called m. In its modern sense, m. denotes a piece of metal, usually round in shape, struck or cast, commemorating through its designs and legends a person or an event. What characterizes the m., besides its particularities of style, technique, and types, is above all the possibility that it may be issued by private individuals as well, an element that clearly distinguishes it from coinage, which is always the direct emanation of the state authority, whatever its form. In this respect, the modern m. also differs from the Roman medallions, which invariably bore on the obverse the effigy of the emperor or of one of his family members to whom the emperor had granted the right to have his effigy represented, and on the reverse designs alluding to the emperor’s exploits or to the political, military, and religious glories of the Empire.
The first m. of the modern period may be considered to be the one cast by Vittore Pisano, Pisanello (v.), for Giovanni VIII Paleologo in 1438, on the occasion of Paleologo’s arrival in Italy for the Congress of Ferrara. This date marks the beginning of the art of medal-making, which produced so many distinguished works during the Renaissance, since the few examples known from before Pisanello’s work, even if they may be regarded as m.—that is, coin-shaped pieces outside circulation and of a commemorative character—nevertheless remain isolated examples with no stylistic or technical relationship to the subsequent production of the fifteenth century. Such, in fact, must be considered
Beginning in 1438 with the m. of Giovanni VIII Paleologo, Pisanello’s activity continued for approximately twenty years in various cities of Italy. The artist was in Mantua, Ferrara, and Naples, where on his m. he portrayed princes and condottieri, politicians, and men of letters, among the most famous figures of his time. Among others, mention may be made of the m. of Gian Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua, Niccolò Piccinino, Lionello d’Este, Cecilia Gonzaga, and Alfonso d’Aragona. An eminent portraitist, he also devoted great attention to the reverses, particularly preferring representations of animals, which he often depicted in bold foreshortenings.
The success of Pisanello’s works gave the m. great popularity, so that many artists followed in his footsteps, although the master did not establish a true school. The finest of the Italian artists of the fifteenth century after Pisanello was Matteo dei Pasti of Verona, active first in Ferrara (m. of Guarino Veronese) and then, after 1446, in Rimini (m. of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta and Isotta degli Atti), where he worked for many years in the service of the Malatesta. He reflects Pisanello’s influence, but is inferior to him both in the rendering of portraits and in the composition of the reverses. Of the other artists, it will suffice to cite only the principal ones, grouping them according to their places of origin or the schools to which they belonged. In Ferrara, Antonio Marescotti and, later, Costanzo, author of the m. of Maometto II, deserve mention; in Mantua, where Pisanello’s activity had created numerous followers, Bartolomeo Talpa, Pier Iacopo Alari Bonacolsi called l’Antico, Gian Cristoforo Romano, and Bartolomeo Melioli worked between the last decades of the fifteenth century and the early years of the sixteenth, depicting chiefly members of the Gonzaga family. The foremost of the Mantuan artists was Sperandio Savelli, active in Ferrara, Bologna, and Venice. His portraits display great vigor, often lacking in grace, together with a certain coldness in the composition and conception of the reverses.
Also belonging to this period are Gianfranco Enzola of Parma, author of the first attempts at struck m.; Giovanni Boldu and Marco Guidizani, Venetians; and Giulio della Torre and Giammaria Pomedelli, Veronese, although their activity extended into the first decades of the sixteenth century. In Florence worked Bertoldo di Giovanni, a pupil of Donatello, and Niccolò di Forzore Spinelli, called Niccolò Fiorentino, the most eminent artist of the Florentine school. In addition to a certain number of m. of Italian figures, he is credited with several dedicated to French figures in the retinue of Carlo VIII.
In Rome were active Andrea Guazzalotti of Prato, to whom a series of papal m. from Niccolò V to Sisto IV is attributed; Cristoforo di Geremia of Mantua and his nephew Lisippo, the former also the author of a fine m. of Alfonso V d’Aragona and the principal representative of the Roman school, which was directed above all toward the imitation of ancient models. To complete the picture of the fifteenth century, mention should also be made of Francesco Francia in Bologna and Caradosso in Milan and Rome, both active in part also in the sixteenth century and both authors of struck m.
In the sixteenth century, the decline of the art of the m. became apparent. The process of striking, which had already found its first masters in the preceding century in Francia, Caradosso, and others, now acquired increasing importance, especially in the case of papal m. Benvenuto Cellini also contributed his art to II. He was the author of cast m., but was particularly notable for those struck for Clemente VII, with reverses echoing classical themes. The principal centers in the sixteenth century were Florence, Rome, Milan, and, somewhat less, Venice. In Florence, besides Cellini, there were the sculptors Pietro Torregiano and Francesco da Sangallo, Pastorino da Siena, Gian Paolo and Domenico Poggini, and Pier Paolo Galeotti called Romano. In Rome, as has been said, striking predominated, being preferred for papal m. because of its lower cost and the greater speed of the process. Among the artists who came from all parts of Italy to work in the Papal Mint, mention should be made of Giampietro Crivelli of Milan, Giovanni Bernardi, the Florentine Domenico Poggini, and above all Alessandro Cesati, the finest representative of the Roman school, who was succeeded at the Papal Mint by G. Antonio de’ Rossi of Milan. In the north, where the technique of casting continued to prevail (the exception was the Paduan school, with Valerio Belli and Giovanni Calvino, a famous counterfeiter of Roman coins), there were the Venetian school, with Andrea Spinelli, and, of great importance, the Milanese school, to which belonged Leone Leoni, author of highly valuable m. (including those of Carlo V), Iacopo Nizzola of Trezzo, also in the service of the Emperor and later of Filippo II, and Antonio Abondio, the school’s foremost representative, active principally abroad (Prague and Vienna), where he worked in the service of Massimiliano II and Rodolfo II.
In the first half of the 17th century, the sixteenth-century tradition continued, chiefly through the efforts of Gaspare Mola, author of papal and Medici medals among the finest of the period. After this artist, however, the art of the medal declined into a purely technical and mechanical skill, from which even the artists working for the papal Mint were not entirely exempt. Among them, however, Gaspare Morone Mola, nephew of the aforementioned Gaspare Mola, and the Hamerani family are noteworthy; they were a family of German origin who worked for several generations in the Mint of Rome: Alberto and Giovanni in the 17th century, Ermengildo and Ottone in the following century. Francesco and Antonio Travani, the brothers Giuseppe and Stefano Ortolani, and Filippo Crapanese, medalist to Clement XIV, also worked in Rome. In Florence, Massimiliano Soldani Benzi distinguished himself as the author of many cast medals of members of the grand-ducal family.
With the end of the century and the beginning of the following one, the influence of French medal art was felt everywhere. Among the leading exponents of this final period of Italian medal art, L. Manfredini, engraver of the Mint of Milan, T. Mercandetti, F. Pertinati, and G. Girometti should be remembered.
From the sixteenth century onward, the art of the medal also flourished in other nations besides Italy, almost everywhere under the influence of Italian art. Germany alone, in fact, can claim an original and independent medal tradition. Two schools were soon established in this country: one in Augsburg, where the technique of casting prevailed, and the other in Nuremberg, where the medals, predominantly struck, were often the work of goldsmiths. The first school included, in the 16th century, Hans Schwarz, Hans Daucher, Hans Kels, and Friedrich Hagenauer; the second, Ludwig Krug, Matthes Gebel, Hans Reinhart, and others. In the following century cast medal art almost entirely disappeared, and there were few artists of any importance: Sebastiano Dadler, Johann Höhn, George Schweicker, and Philip Heinrich Müller may be mentioned. The Baroque period marked a flourishing of medal art in Germany, whose production continued in the following centuries up to the modern era.
In France, between the end of the fifteenth century and the early years of the sixteenth, medals were issued by the cities for the visit of the King and his court. In the 16th century, medal art revealed the influence of the Italian artists working in France. Among French medalists, Jean Goujon and, later, Guillaume Dupré and Jean Warin, the finest among the French artists of the seventeenth century, deserve mention.
The reign of Louis XIV produced a series of medals intended to illustrate the most important events of the kingdom. The following collaborated on this series: Ch. J. François Cheron, formerly a medalist at the papal court; Jean Manger; and Joseph Roettier. Later came Jean Duvivier, Simon Curé, and Jean Leblanc, likewise authors of official medals intended to commemorate illustrious personages or important events. After a period of decline, French medal art experienced a revival in the nineteenth century, and its influence was also felt among contemporary Italian artists.
In Holland too, medal art was influenced by Italy. Among the artists active in the 16th century, Quintin Metsys and Jean Second stand out; Jacques Jonghelnick was somewhat later. Superior to all was Stefano d'Olanda, whose signature Stehf appears on Flemish and foreign medals. Corrado Bloc is also notable for his portraits. Adrian Waterloos and Jean de Montfort, active in the seventeenth century, should likewise be remembered.
In Spain there was no true school of medalists; in England, medals by English artists appear only under Henry VIII and his successors. Foreign artists also worked in England during this period, such as the Fleming Simon van de Passe and the Frenchmen Nicolas Briot and Jean Warin. Among the English, in the seventeenth century, Thomas Rawlins and especially Abraham and Thomas Simon should be remembered. With the accession of the House of Hanover, German artists also came to England, and it was only in the second half of the eighteenth century that English medalists appeared; among them, however, the only important one was Thomas Perigo, of Italian origin. - Vedi tav. XXXIII.
Franco Panvini - Rosati