Filippo Maria Visconti,  Duke of Milan thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan

Medal
probably 1441 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This medal is made by Antonio Pisano, called Pisanello (ca. 1395-1455) in ca. 1441, in Italy.

It depicts on the obverse the bust of Filippo-Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan and on the reverse a knight in armour on a horseback with two attendants.

Born Pisa or Verona, by 1395, Pisanello was an Italian painter, draughtsman and medallist. His richly decorative frescoes, courtly and elegant painted portraits and highly original portrait medals made him one of the most popular artists of the day. He travelled extensively and worked for several Italian courts, at Mantua, Ferrara, Pavia, Milan and Naples. Many of his paintings have been lost or damaged, making a reconstruction of his career difficult. He is now better known as a medallist.

Two-sided Renaissance portrait medals were a form developed by Pisanello, and commemorated individuals or events and functioned as gifts and mementoes. They were inspired by the Roman coins, with their portraits of rulers and allegorical representations on the reverse, excavated all over Italy and eagerly collected by humanist scholars.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleFilippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Brief description
Medal, depicting Filippo-Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, bronze, by Pisanello, Italy, ca. 1441
Physical description
Medal depicts: Obv.: bust of Filippo-Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan; rev.: a knight in armour on horseback, with two attendants.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 10cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • PHILIPPVSMARIA.ANGLVS.DVX.MEDIOLANI.ECETERA.PAPIE.ANGLERIE.QUE.COMES.AC.GENVE.DOMINVS (obverse)
  • OPVS.PISANI.PICTORIS
Subjects depicted
Summary
This medal is made by Antonio Pisano, called Pisanello (ca. 1395-1455) in ca. 1441, in Italy.

It depicts on the obverse the bust of Filippo-Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan and on the reverse a knight in armour on a horseback with two attendants.

Born Pisa or Verona, by 1395, Pisanello was an Italian painter, draughtsman and medallist. His richly decorative frescoes, courtly and elegant painted portraits and highly original portrait medals made him one of the most popular artists of the day. He travelled extensively and worked for several Italian courts, at Mantua, Ferrara, Pavia, Milan and Naples. Many of his paintings have been lost or damaged, making a reconstruction of his career difficult. He is now better known as a medallist.

Two-sided Renaissance portrait medals were a form developed by Pisanello, and commemorated individuals or events and functioned as gifts and mementoes. They were inspired by the Roman coins, with their portraits of rulers and allegorical representations on the reverse, excavated all over Italy and eagerly collected by humanist scholars.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1857. 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. 24.
  • Hill, George Francis. A Corpus of Italian Medals of the Renaissance, Before Cellini, Volume I, Text. London: British Museum, 1930, p. 8.
  • Pisanello. Le Peintre aux sept vertus. (exh. cat), medal entries by Sylvie de Turckheim-Pey, p. 215, cat. No. 127, illus. p . 205 Paris, 1996 (Musée du Louvre, Paris).
  • Curtis, Penelope, Depth of Field: the place of relief in the time of Donatello, Leeds: Henry Moore Institute, 2004
Collection
Accession number
4575-1857

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Record createdJune 27, 2008
Record URL
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