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Medal
Galeotti, Pietro Paolo Romano, born 1520 - died 1584 - Enlarge image
Medal
- Place of origin:
Italy (made)
- Date:
ca. 1569 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Galeotti, Pietro Paolo Romano, born 1520 - died 1584 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Bronze
- Museum number:
6761-1860
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This bronze medal is made by Pietro Paolo Galeotti (d. 1584) in Italy, Rome, in ca. !569.
It represents on the obverse Cosimo I de Medici. Grand-Duke of Tuscany (Florence) and on the reverse the Fountain of Neptune in Florence.
The Medici were a powerful and influential Florentine family, with great influence in Florence from the 14th to the 18th century. There were three Popes among the family and many rulers of Florence, like of example Lorenzo de'Medici or Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492), who was patron of some of the most important artists of the Renaissance.
Cosimo was the nephew of Ottaviano de' Medici. His mother, Maria Salviati (d. 1543), was a granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent; his father, the professional soldier Giovanni delle Bande Nere (1498-1526), was killed when Cosimo was seven. When, in 1537, Lorenzino de' Medici murdered Alessandro de' Medici, the tyrannical Duke of Florence, Cosimo was the only available successor. Initially his power was limited, but he became Duke of Florence in 1537, after his victory at the Battle of Montemurlo, and Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569.
