Medal

MEDAL. - The word m. derives from the Latin metalla and in the Middle Ages indicated the half-denarius or obol. When this fell into disuse, the term remained to indicate a coin out of circulation, so that by extension every ancient coin, especially Roman or Greek, was later called a m. Understood in the modern sense, m. indicates a piece of metal, usually of round shape, struck or cast, commemorating by its types and legends a person or an event. What characterizes the m., beyond the particularities of style, technique and types, is above all its possibility of being issued even by private individuals, an element that clearly differentiates it from the coin, always a direct emanation of state authority, whatever that may be. In this respect, the modern m. also differs from Roman medallions, which constantly bear on the obverse the effigy of the emperor or of one of his family members, to whom the emperor had granted the right of effigy, and on the reverse types alluding to the emperor's enterprises or to the political, military and religious glories of the Empire.

The first m. of the modern era may be considered the one cast by Vittore Pisano, known as Pisanello (v.), for John VIII Palaiologos in 1438, on the occasion of the Palaiologos' arrival in Italy for the Congress of Ferrara. This date marks the beginning of that medallic art which produced so many distinguished works in the Renaissance, since the few examples known prior to Pisanello's work, even if they can be considered m., that is, coin-shaped pieces out of circulation and of a commemorative character, nevertheless remain isolated examples without any stylistic or technical relationship to the subsequent production of the fifteenth century. Thus indeed the two gold medallions must be considered of which ancient copies in silver are preserved, mentioned in the early years of the 15th century in the inventories of the collection of the Duke of Berry and representing on the obverse, one the emperor Constantine, the other the emperor Heraclius, and on the reverse scenes alluding to the legend of the Cross. Also distant in style and technique from Pisanello's creations are the m. struck in 1390, for the reconquest of Padua, by Francesco II da Carrara and bearing on the obverse the portraits, strongly influenced by Roman sesterces, respectively of Francesco I and Francesco II, as well as the m. struck, in imitation of the antique, by the Sesto family, a family of engravers of the Venetian Mint, imitators of ancient coins and supposed authors of the Carrara m.

Begun in 1438 with the m. of John VIII Palaiologos, Pisanello's activity continued for about 20 years in various cities of Italy. The artist was in Mantua, Ferrara, Naples, where he portrayed on his m. princes and condottieri, political men and men of letters, among the most famous of his times. Among others, the m. of Gian Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua, of Niccolò Piccinino, of Lionello d'Este, of Cecilia Gonzaga, of Alfonso of Aragon are remembered. A distinguished portraitist, he also took great care with the reverses, preferring in particular the representation of animals, which he often drew in bold foreshortenings.

The success of Pisanello's works gave great popularity to the m., so that many artists followed in his footsteps, even though the master had not created a true school of his own. The best among the Italians of the fifteenth century, after Pisanello, is Matteo dei Pasti of Verona, active first at Ferrara (m. of Guarino Veronese) and then, after 1446, at Rimini (m. of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, of Isotta degli Atti), where he worked for many years in the service of the Malatesta. He is influenced by Pisanello, 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 mention only the major ones, grouping them according to their places of origin or according to the schools to which they belonged. At Ferrara are to be remembered Antonio Marescotti and, later, Costanzo, author of the m. of Mehmed II; at Mantua, where Pisanello's activity had created numerous followers, there worked, between the last decades of the fifteenth century and the early years of the sixteenth, Bartolomeo Talpa, Pier Iacopo Alari Bonacolsi known as l'Antico, Gian Cristoforo Romano, Bartolomeo Melioli, depicting predominantly members of the Gonzaga family. The greatest of the Mantuan artists was Sperandio Savelli, active at Ferrara, Bologna and Venice and who shows in his portraits great vigor, often however lacking in grace, besides a certain coldness in the composition and conception of the reverses.

Also of this period are Gianfranco Enzola of Parma, author of the first attempts at struck m.; Giovanni Boldu and Marco Guidizani, Venetians; Giulio della Torre and Giammaria Pomedelli, Veronese, whose activity however extends into the early decades of the sixteenth century. At Florence there worked Bertoldo di Giovanni, a pupil of Donatello, and Niccolò di Forzore Spinelli, known as Niccolò Fiorentino, the most eminent artist of the Florentine school: to him are attributed, besides a certain number of m. of Italian personages, also some dedicated to French personages of the retinue of Charles VIII.

At Rome there were active Andrea Guazzalotti of Prato, to whom a series of papal m. from Nicholas V to Sixtus IV is due; Cristoforo di Geremia of Mantua and his nephew Lisippo, the former also author of a fine m. of Alfonso V of Aragon and principal exponent of the Roman school, devoted above all to the imitation of ancient models. To complete the picture of the fifteenth century, Francesco Francia at Bologna and Caradosso at Milan and Rome are also remembered, operating in part also in the sixteenth century, both authors of struck m.

In the sixteenth century the decline of the art of the m. quickly becomes manifest. The process of striking, which already in the preceding century had found its first masters in Francia, Caradosso and others still, now acquires ever greater importance, especially with the papal m. To it Benvenuto Cellini also brings the contribution of his art, author of cast m., but notable above all in those struck for Clement VII, with reverses that echo classical themes. The principal centers in the sixteenth century are Florence, Rome, Milan and somewhat less Venice. At Florence there are active, besides Cellini, Pietro Torregiano and Francesco da Sangallo, sculptors, Pastorino da Siena, Gian Paolo and Domenico Poggini, Pier Paolo Galeotti known as Romano. At Rome striking predominates, as has been said, preferred in the papal m. for its lower cost and the greater rapidity of the process. Among the artists who came together from every part of Italy to work in the pontifical Mint, one must remember Giampietro Crivelli of Milan, Giovanni Bernardi, the Florentine Domenico Poggini and above all Alessandro Cesati, the best representative of the Roman school, who was succeeded in the pontifical Mint by G. Antonio de' Rossi of Milan. In the north, where the technique of casting continues to prevail (the exception was the Paduan school with Valerio Belli and Giovanni Calvino, a famous counterfeiter of Roman coins), there are found the Venetian school, with Andrea Spinelli, and, very important, the Milanese school, to which belonged Leone Leoni, author of highly prized m. (among them those of Charles V), Iacopo Nizzola of Trezzo, also in the service of the Emperor and then of Philip II, and Antonio Abondio, the greatest exponent of the school, active especially abroad (Prague and Vienna) where he worked in the service of Maximilian II and Rudolf II.

In the first half of the 17th century the sixteenth-century tradition continues, chiefly through the merit of Gaspare Mola, author of Medicean and papal medals among the finest of his time. After this artist, however, the art of the medal declines into a purely technical and mechanical skill, from which not even the artists working for the papal Mint are entirely exempt. Among them, nevertheless, notable are Gaspare Morone Mola, nephew of the aforementioned Gaspare Mola, and the Hamerani, a family of medallists 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 one. Also working in Rome were Francesco and Antonio Travani, the brothers Giuseppe and Stefano Ortolani, and Filippo Crapanese, medallist of Clement XIV. In Florence Massimiliano Soldani Benzi distinguished himself, author of many cast medals of members of the grand-ducal family.

With the end of the century and with the following one, the influence of the French medal is felt everywhere: to be remembered among the major exponents of this latter period of Italian medallic art are: L. Manfredini, engraver of the Mint of Milan, T. Mercandetti, F. Pertinati and G. Girometti.

In other nations as well as in Italy, the art of the medal flourished from the sixteenth century onward, almost everywhere under the influence of Italian art. Germany alone, in fact, can boast an original and independent medallic art. In this nation two schools were soon formed: one at Augsburg where the technique of casting prevailed, the other at Nuremberg where the medals, predominantly struck, were often the work of goldsmiths. To the first school belonged in the 16th century Hans Schwarz, Hans Daucher, Hans Kels, Friedrich Hagenauer; to the second Ludwig Krug, Matthes Gebel, Hans Reinhart, and others. In the following century the cast medal almost entirely disappears and few artists are of any importance: Sebastiano Dadler, Johann Höhn, George Schweicker, Philip Heinrich Müller are remembered. The Baroque period marks in Germany a flourishing of the art of the medal, whose production continues in the following centuries down to the modern era.

In France, between the end of the fifteenth century and the early years of the sixteenth, there are the medals issued by the cities for the visit of the King and his court. In the 16th century the medal reveals the influence of the Italian artists who worked in France. Among French medallists, Jean Goujon deserves to be remembered and, later, Guillaume Dupré and Jean Warin, the best among the French artists of the seventeenth century.

To the time of Louis XIV belongs a series of medals intended to illustrate the most important events of the reign: Ch. J. François Cheron, formerly medallist at the papal court, Jean Manger, Joseph Roettier collaborated on this series. Later are Jean Duvivier, Simon Curé and Jean Leblanc, also authors of official medals, intended to commemorate illustrious personages or important events. After a period of decline there is in the nineteenth century a rebirth of the French medal, whose influence is felt also on contemporary Italian artists.

In Holland too the medal feels the Italian influence: among the artists active in the 16th century Quintin Metsys and Jean Second stand out, somewhat later is Jacques Jonghelnick. Superior to all is Steven van Holland, whose monogram Stehf appears on Flemish and foreign medals. Noteworthy, for the portraits, is also Conrad Bloc. In the seventeenth century Adrian Waterloos and Jean de Montfort are also remembered.

In Spain there is no true school of medallists; in England medals by English artists appear only with Henry VIII and his successors. Foreign artists also work 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 above all Abraham and Thomas Simon are to be remembered. With the advent of the House of Hanover, German artists also come to England, and only in the second half of the eighteenth century are there English medallists, among whom however the only important one is Thomas Perigo, of Italian origin. - See pl. XXXIII.

Franco Panvini - Rosati