Medal
1446 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This bronze medal is by an unknown artist from 1446 from Italy and represents Sigismund Malatesta.
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417-1468) was a noble, soldier and patron. Apart from his numerous political and military activities he made the city of Rimini into an important Renaissance centre for art, science and learning.
He was one of the first to realise the propaganda potential of medal-art and commissioned Pisanello to make some 15 medals.
He has been represented as one of the most disreputable but highly cultured rulers of the Renaissance. Burkhardt wrote: 'Unscrupulousness, impiety, military skill and high culture have been seldom so combined in one individual as in Sigismondo Malatesta'.
Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417-1468) was a noble, soldier and patron. Apart from his numerous political and military activities he made the city of Rimini into an important Renaissance centre for art, science and learning.
He was one of the first to realise the propaganda potential of medal-art and commissioned Pisanello to make some 15 medals.
He has been represented as one of the most disreputable but highly cultured rulers of the Renaissance. Burkhardt wrote: 'Unscrupulousness, impiety, military skill and high culture have been seldom so combined in one individual as in Sigismondo Malatesta'.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Bronze |
| Brief description | Medal, bronze, of Sigismund Malatesta, Italy 1446 |
| Physical description | Medal depicts: Obv.: bust to the left; rev.: a seated female figure, crowned, supporting a broken column. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Obv.: bust to the left; rev.: a seated female figure, crowned, supporting a broken column. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This bronze medal is by an unknown artist from 1446 from Italy and represents Sigismund Malatesta. Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417-1468) was a noble, soldier and patron. Apart from his numerous political and military activities he made the city of Rimini into an important Renaissance centre for art, science and learning. He was one of the first to realise the propaganda potential of medal-art and commissioned Pisanello to make some 15 medals. He has been represented as one of the most disreputable but highly cultured rulers of the Renaissance. Burkhardt wrote: 'Unscrupulousness, impiety, military skill and high culture have been seldom so combined in one individual as in Sigismondo Malatesta'. |
| Bibliographic reference | Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1855. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 74 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1435-1855 |
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| Record created | April 24, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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