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Cardinal Trivulzio

Medal
16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Italy (made)

This is a bronze medal made in the 16th century in Italy. The obverse of this medal represents Cardinal Trivulzio with a legend and the reverse shows a female figure holding in her hands a mirror and a pair of compasses. There is also a cockatrice in her feet.
The female figure represents Prudence, being one of the four Cardinal Virtues. The mirror she holds appears frequently in Renaissance art and symbolizes the wise man's ability to see himself as he really is. The compasses refer to her measured judgement, The figure derived from a classical source, either the Dancing Maidens from the Villa Borghese in Rome, now in the Louvre, or possibly an antique gem.


Object details

Categories
Coins & Medals
Religion
Portraits
Object type
Medal
TitleCardinal Trivulzio (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Medal, bronze, bust of Cardinal Trivulzio, Italian, 16th century
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 6.03cm
Object history
Bought from the Soulages Collection in 1865, for £3.
Subjects depicted
Female
Mirror
Compasses (Direction Indicators)
Cardinal Trivulzio
Summary
This is a bronze medal made in the 16th century in Italy. The obverse of this medal represents Cardinal Trivulzio with a legend and the reverse shows a female figure holding in her hands a mirror and a pair of compasses. There is also a cockatrice in her feet.
The female figure represents Prudence, being one of the four Cardinal Virtues. The mirror she holds appears frequently in Renaissance art and symbolizes the wise man's ability to see himself as he really is. The compasses refer to her measured judgement, The figure derived from a classical source, either the Dancing Maidens from the Villa Borghese in Rome, now in the Louvre, or possibly an antique gem.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1865. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 36
  • Robinson, John Charles. Catalogue of the Soulages Collection. London: Chapman & Hall, 1856, pp. 137-138
  • Scher, Stephen K, The Currency of fame: portrait medals of the Renaissance, New York, National Gallery of Art (U.S.), Frick Collection., 1994 pp.35-37, pp.149-151
  • Hill, G. F. A Corpus of Italian Medals of the Renaissance before Cellini. London: British Museum, 1920, no. 703
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
659-1865

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Record createdApril 29, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O153817/cardinal-trivulzio-medal-unknown/
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