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Title: Portrait medal of Cecilia Gonzaga (obverse); Innocence and a Unicorn in a Moonlit Landscape (reverse)

Background:

Cecilia Gonzaga was celebrated as a scholar despite her few years. Wishing to pursue her studies rather than marry she elected to join a convent but this met with opposition from her father who had independently arranged for her to marry Oddantonio da Montefeltro of Urbino. Oddantonio reportedly financed his debauched and excessive lifestyle by imposing heavy taxes and was commonly despised. Cecilia refused to marry him. He was ultimately assassinated. The medal’s meaning is clear in its intention to portray the innocence and chastity of the sitter, and the representation of a unicorn in the form of a goat alludes to her acquisition of knowledge. The composition of the medal, the simplicity of the obverse and the symbolism of the reverse, make students of Italian art consider it one of the very best renaissance medals.

Artist: Pisanello (Antonio Pisano) - Painter and Sculptor (Italian, Pisa or Verona by 1395–1455)

He was born in Pisa, worked in Rimini, Venice, Naples, Ferrara and Mantova. Pisanello is considered ‘The Creator’ of the Renaissance medals.

Date: model 1447 (old aftercast, unsure of exactly when/where this was cast, likely an original cast)

Medium: Bronze (copper alloy with warm brown patina)

Dimensions: Diameter: 3 1/4 inch or 83 mm (8.4 cm) and weighs 5.1 ounces.

Condition: Very high grade of MS 64 BN assigned by NGC, likely among the finest known.

Provenance: Purchased from a medals collector in Boston several years ago (2015) whose collection included several pieces from the 16th thru 18th centuries.

References:

https://italianrenaissancemedals.com/medals/cecilia-gonzaga/

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/461522

The item pictured is authentic and is the item you will receive.

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