Medal: Bust of Bernardo Nasi
Northern Italian, Bologna or Veneto?
Not on view
On the obverse is a portrait of Bernardo Nasi, and on the reverse are three armored men in conversation, sitting on an all’antica pedestal or platform, with army tents and flags in the background. According to the Oppenheimer sale catalogue this medal is unique. Nasi was prior of Florence, ambassador to King Ferrante of Naples in 1480 and to the Pope in 1497. The reverse seems to refer to a successful, unknown diplomacy by Nasi between two generals, possibly Charles VIII and Piero de’ Medici. This specimen is heavy; it has a severe casting fault in the cap of Nasi. The sharp, old aftercast may date to the sixteenth century.
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