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Gold Medal Cast on the Occasion of Kongo Ambassador Antonio Manuel's visit to Pope Paul V

Giorgio Roncetti Italian

1608

Not on view

King Alvaro II (r. 1587–1614) sent Antonio Manuel, Marquis of ne Vunda, as the Kingdom of Kongo’s ambassador to the Holy See. On both this commemorative medal and on his mortuary statue (in the baptistery of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome), Antonio Manuel is portrayed wearing the distinctive Kongo netted garment. The scene depicted, in which Manuel kneels before the enthroned Pope Paul V, never actually occurred, as Manuel died only a few days after he arrived in Rome in January 1608. Kongo’s embrace of Christianity complemented papal aspirations for a global church as reflected in the coin’s inscription Et Congy adgnoscit pastorem svvm (“And Kongo acknowledges its shepherd”).

Gold Medal Cast on the Occasion of Kongo Ambassador Antonio Manuel's visit to Pope Paul V, Giorgio Roncetti (Italian, ca. 15th–16th century), Gold — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Gold Medal Cast on the Occasion of Kongo Ambassador Antonio Manuel's visit to Pope Paul V, Giorgio Roncetti (Italian, ca. 15th–16th century), Gold

Gold Medal Cast on the Occasion of Kongo Ambassador Antonio Manuel's visit to Pope Paul V, Giorgio Roncetti (Italian, ca. 15th–16th century), Gold

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This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Gold Medal Cast on the Occasion of Kongo Ambassador Antonio Manuel's visit to Pope Paul V

Artist: Giorgio Roncetti (Italian, ca. 15th–16th century)

Date: 1608

Geography: Italy, Rome

Medium: Gold

Dimensions: Diam. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm).

Classification: Medals

Credit Line: Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium (HO.1951.26.1)

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.