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Medal: Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga

model ca. 1445–47 (old aftercast)
Not on view
Active in Verona and the Italian courts, the celebrated master Pisanello left behind a significant legacy, including a large corpus of drawings, several paintings, and the devopment of the Renaissance portrait medal. Inspired by Roman coins, with their portraits of rulers and allegorical representations on the reverse, the medals commemorated individuals or events and functioned as gifts and mementoes. The obverse presents a portrait of Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga, marquess of Mantua (1394/95 – 1444). He is shown on
the reverse mounted in armor and riding in a rocky landscape with a dwarf squire on horseback in the background. To his left hangs a door knocker. This is an old aftercast, possibly after a lead original, with some bruises.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Medal: Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga
  • Artist: Pisanello (Antonio Pisano) (Italian, Pisa or Verona by 1395–1455)
  • Date: model ca. 1445–47 (old aftercast)
  • Medium: Copper alloy with dark patina and dark layer of wax
  • Dimensions: Diam. 9.9 cm, wt. 311.17 g.
  • Classification: Medals
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
    1975.1.1308
  • Object Number: 1975.1.1308
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

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Sigismondo Malatesta, as Captain General of the Roman Church, Pisanello (Antonio Pisano) Italian, Bronze, Italian
Sigismondo Malatesta, as Captain General of the Roman Church
Medalist: Pisanello (Antonio Pisano)
1445
Lobster-Tail Burgonet, Steel, leather, gold, North Italian
Lobster-Tail Burgonet
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ca. 1610
Medal: Federigo da Montefeltro, Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino) Italian, Bronze (Copper alloy with brown to green patina with traces of black wax).
Medal: Federigo da Montefeltro
Follower of Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino)
model ca. 1474 (possibly cast 19th or 20th century)
Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Sicily, Pisanello (Antonio Pisano) Italian, Bronze, Italian
Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Sicily
Medalist: Pisanello (Antonio Pisano)
15th century
Sallet in the Shape of a Lion's Head, Steel, copper, gold, glass, pigment, textile, Italian
Sallet in the Shape of a Lion's Head
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ca. 1475–80

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