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RENAISSANCE MEDALS

ITALIAN MEDALS

ANTONIO PISANO, CALLED PISANELLO, 1395-1455.

1 John VIII Palaeologus, Emperor of Constantinople, 1425-1448. Cast bronze medal, undated (around
1438-1439), Ferrara or Florence. Considered the first ever Renaissance Medal and commemorating the
participation of the penultimate Byzantine Emperor at the Council of Ferrara. (Ø 103,8 mm; 300,15 gr.)
Bust right, with trim beard and moustache, wearing hat with tall crown and large upturned brim, pointed
in front, vest and cloak with falling collar ; hair in long curls // OPVS PISANI PICTORIS. The Emperor
on an ambling horse right ; wearing hat as on obverse, holding bow at left, quiver at right side ; raising
folded hands as he passes at ride side ; behind him, a page on horseback seen from behind ; in
background, rocks ; upper half of design bordered by plain line ending in hooks.
Of the highest rarity in this quality. Possibly one of the best known specimens. Museum piece.
Suspension hole. Extremely fine and sharp contemporary cast 50.000.-
Armand I, p. 7, n°20 (Ø 104 mm); Hill, Corpus I, p. 6, n°19 (Ø 103-104 mm); Hill & Pollard (Kress Coll.) n°1 (Ø 103 mm);
Scher (The Currency of Fame) 4.
Provenance: Collection A. M.
Collection Dr. Johannes Jantzen, Auction Sternberg XXIX, Zürich (Switzerland) 30 October 1995, lot n°694.
Publication of this specimen in: Johannes Jantzen, Gegossene Medaillen und Plaketten der Renaissance. In "Die
Bundesbank", Zeitschrift der Deutschen Bundesbank, Frankfurt a.M., volume 26, November 1967, p. 4,5,6.
We have also been able to find this very medal illustrated on a photographic plate, attributed to Jacques-Ernest Bulloz,
photographer in Paris. Dated between 1900 and 1930, the plate is now located in the collections of the Museum of Fine
Arts of the city of Paris, in the Petit Palais (Museum inventory number: PPPH00610(4))

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