Jean, duc de Berry, was an avid collector of precious objects that often referred, however distantly, to antiquity. This is a reproduction of a lost medal that the duke acquired or commissioned in Paris in November 1402 and later had cast in gold. This medal and another depicting Heraclius survive only in later casts. Their compositions, figural designs, and exotic costume details are echoed in several of the duke’s manuscripts illuminated by the Limbourg brothers, including the Belles Heures.
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Classifications:Metalwork-Copper alloy, Medals and Plaquettes
Credit Line:Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alain Moatti, 1988
Object Number:1988.133
Inscription: (obverse legend): + CONSTANTIVS / . IN XPO [should be CHRISTO] . DEO . FIDELIS . IMPERAT / OR . ET . MODERATOR / ROMANORVM . ET. SEMPER . AVGVSTVS (Constantine, faithful in Christ [and] in God, emperor and master of the Romans and forever Augustus)
(obverse exergue): z34 (234)
(reverse legend): : + MIHI : ABSIT : GLORIARI : . / . : NISI : IN : CRVCE : . / . : DOMINI : NOSTRI : IH[S]V : XPI [should be CHRIST] : . (May it be absent for me to be boasted unless [it is] on the cross of Lord Jesus Christ [Galatians 6:14])
(reverse exergue): z 3 / 5 (235)
Mr. and Mrs. Alain Moatti, Paris (until 1988)
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance," January 23May 1, 1994.
Frick Collection. "The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance," May 24–August 22, 1994.
National Gallery of Scotland. "The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance," Sep-13-1994–December 20, 1994.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Mirror of the Medieval World," March 9–June 1, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557)," March 23–July 4, 2004.
NIjmegen, The Netherlands. Museum het valkhof nijmegen. "The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400–1416," August 28, 2005–November 20, 2005.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Art of Illumination," March 1–June 13, 2010.
Los Angeles. J. Paul Getty Museum. "The Renaissance Nude," October 30, 2018–January 27, 2019.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "The Renaissance Nude," March 2–June 2, 2019.
Wixom, William D. "Curatorial Reports and Departmental Accessions." Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 118 (July 1, 1987–June 30, 1988). p. 33.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recent Acquisitions, 1987-1988 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) (1988). pp. 20–21.
Wixom, William D., ed. Mirror of the Medieval World. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. no. 204, p. 168.
Evans, Helen C., ed. Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. no. 323a, pp. 14, 537–38.
Roelofs, Pieter, and Rob Dückers, ed. The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400–1416. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 90, p. 350.
Niessen, Willy, Pieter Roelofs, and Mieke van Veen-Liefrink. "The Limbourg Brothers in Nijmegen, Bourges, and Paris." In The Limbourg Brothers: Nijmegen masters at the French Court, 1400-1416, edited by Pieter Roelofs, and Rob Dückers. Ghent: Ludion Press, 2005. no. 90, p. 20.
Husband, Timothy B. The Art of Illumination: The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry. New York ; New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008. p. 290, fig. 122.
Husband, Timothy B. Les Belles Heures du Duc de Berry, edited by Hélène Grollemund, and Pascal Torres. Italy: Musée du Louvre Editions, 2012. pp. 55–56, fig. 47.
Kren, Thomas, Jill Burke, and Stephen J. Campbell, ed. The Renaissance Nude. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2018. no. 94b, pp. 324–25.
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