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Giovanni di Francesco Tornabuoni

Medal
ca. 1480-1490 (made)
Artist/Maker
Fiorentino, Niccolo (Niccolo Di Forzore Spinelli) (medallist)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

This medal representing Giovanni di Francesco Tornabuoni is made by Niccolo Fiorentino
(also called Niccolo di Forzore Spinelli) grand nephew of the painter Spinello Aretino. He was born in Florence into a family of goldsmiths of the Popolo of S. Maria Novella. It is possible that he is identical with the 'Nicolas de Spinel' who was mentioned in 1468 in the accounts of the Dukes of Burgundy as having engraved seals for Charles the Bold.
The depicted Francesco Tornabuoni was a Florentine merchant, banker and patron of the arts, with strong affiliations to the House of Medici. He was director of the Medici family's bank in Rome, as treasurer of Pope Sixtus IV.


Object details

Categories
Coins & Medals
Portraits
Sculpture
Object type
Medal
TitleGiovanni di Francesco Tornabuoni (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Medal, bronze, bust of Giovanni Tornabuoni, ascribed to Niccolo Fiorentino, Italy (Florence), ca. 1480-1490
Physical description
Medal depicts on the obverse the bust portrait of Giovanni Tornabuoni, with inscription and on the reverse an allegorical figure of Hope with an inscription.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 9.22cm
Object history
Bought, £ 1 in 1863.
Subjects depicted
Bust
Hope
Giovanni Di Francesco Tornabuoni
Summary
This medal representing Giovanni di Francesco Tornabuoni is made by Niccolo Fiorentino
(also called Niccolo di Forzore Spinelli) grand nephew of the painter Spinello Aretino. He was born in Florence into a family of goldsmiths of the Popolo of S. Maria Novella. It is possible that he is identical with the 'Nicolas de Spinel' who was mentioned in 1468 in the accounts of the Dukes of Burgundy as having engraved seals for Charles the Bold.
The depicted Francesco Tornabuoni was a Florentine merchant, banker and patron of the arts, with strong affiliations to the House of Medici. He was director of the Medici family's bank in Rome, as treasurer of Pope Sixtus IV.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1863. 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. 38
  • Hill, George Francis. A Corpus of Italian Medals of the Renaissance, Before Cellini, Volume I, Text. London: British Museum, 1930, p. 268, no. 1023.
  • Maria de Prano, '"To the exaltation of his family": Niccolò Fiorentino's medals for Giovanni Tornabuoni and his Family', The Medal, no. 56, spring 2010, pp. 14-25 (fig.1 p. 14).
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
7712-1863

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O311899/giovanni-di-francesco-tornabuoni-medal-fiorentino-niccolo-niccolo/
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