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Portrait medal of Battista Vigo da Rapallo or Baptista Romanus (obverse); a Hand Holding a Branch and a Surgical Instrument

model ca. 1510 (later aftercast)
Not on view
Little can be said of this medal’s place of fabrication or of the sitter, although the inscription on the obverse (M. BABTISTA RO. CHIRVRGICVS) indicates that he was a surgeon (Chirurgicus). Gaetano Avignone, who possessed this medal and published it in
1872, identified the sitter as Baptista Vigo da Rapallo, assuming that the RO in the inscription was a mistake
for RA. However, the RO may indicate a Roman origin for the sitter, and could be read as "Baptista Romanus." The image on the reverse seems to show a hand holding an oak branch and possibly a surgical instrument or a bridle.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portrait medal of Battista Vigo da Rapallo or Baptista Romanus (obverse); a Hand Holding a Branch and a Surgical Instrument
  • Date: model ca. 1510 (later aftercast)
  • Culture: Italian, Venice or Padua (?)
  • Medium: Bronze (copper alloy with light brown
    patina and remnants of black wax or lacquer).
  • Dimensions: Diam. 6.4 cm, wt. 119.59 g
  • Classification: Medals
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.1258
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

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