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Unknown Lady

Medal
early 16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Antico (Pier Jacopo Di Antonio Alari-Bonacolsi) (medallist)
Place of origin
Mantua (made)

This medal depicts an unknown lady and is made in the style of Antico in the early 16th century.
Antico (Pier Jacopo di Antonio Alari-Bonacolsi) (ca. 1460-1528) was an Italian sculptor and goldsmith. He was nick-named Antico, because in his work he related heavily to Antiquity. He re-created small scale statuettes of famous antique examples. He was active at the Gonzaga court at Mantua and made many bronzes for the court, notably for Ludovico, Bishop of Mantua and Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga, 4th Marchese of Mantua. He was also a restorer of antique statues and an adviser to art collectors.


Object details

Categories
Coins & Medals
Portraits
Sculpture
Object type
Medal
TitleUnknown Lady (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Medal, bronze, unknown lady, in the style of Antico, Italy (Mantua), early 16th century
Physical description
Medal depicts the bust to right, as far as the waist, of a young woman. Inscription. On the reverse Mercury walking to the right, wearing a tunic, the winged hat had shoes, and carrying the caduceus. Inscription.
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 5.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'DIMIDIVM . FIDES . FORMA . DIMIDIVM . X / A . S' (obverse)
  • 'VENVS . EXTRA . EGO . INTVS / AL . P . D' (reverse)
Object history
From the Salting bequest.
Subject depicted
Lady
Summary
This medal depicts an unknown lady and is made in the style of Antico in the early 16th century.
Antico (Pier Jacopo di Antonio Alari-Bonacolsi) (ca. 1460-1528) was an Italian sculptor and goldsmith. He was nick-named Antico, because in his work he related heavily to Antiquity. He re-created small scale statuettes of famous antique examples. He was active at the Gonzaga court at Mantua and made many bronzes for the court, notably for Ludovico, Bishop of Mantua and Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga, 4th Marchese of Mantua. He was also a restorer of antique statues and an adviser to art collectors.
Bibliographic references
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 41
  • Hill, George Francis. A Corpus of Italian Medals of the Renaissance, Before Cellini, Volume I, Text. London: British Museum, 1930, no. 219
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.290-1910

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O313546/unknown-lady-medal-antico-pier-jacopo/
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