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Giovanni Matteo Marchetti, bishop of Arezzo

Medal
1702 (made)
Artist/Maker
Soldani Benzi, Massimiliano (maker)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

This bronze medal depicts Bishop Marchetti of Arezzo, facing to the right and wearing a berrettino and mozzetto. It is the work of Massimiliano Soldani, the last great Florentine bronzeworker in the tradition leading from Lorenzo Ghilberti through Giambologna to Pietro and Ferdinando Tacca. The medal has no reverse side.


Object details

Categories
Coins & Medals
Sculpture
Medallions
Portraits
Object type
Medal
TitleGiovanni Matteo Marchetti, bishop of Arezzo (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Cast in bronze
Bronze
Cast
Brief description
Medal, 'Portrait medal of Giovanni Matteo Marchetti, bishop of Arezzo', cast in bronze, by Massimiliano Soldani Benzi, Florence, 1702.
Physical description
Medal, bronze. On the obverse side, a bust to the right of the Bishop wearing a berrettino and mozzetto. There is no reverse
Dimensions
  • Diameter: 96mm
Marks and inscriptions
'IO. MATTH. MARCHETTI. EPISCOPVS. ARETINVS.' (along the rim) '1702' (on the bottom left, under the truncation of the arm) 'S' (artist's signature in the truncation of the arm)
Object history
Bought from Alfred Spero for £9.

Historical significance: Mr Pollard (Fitzwilliam Museum) writes: 'Apart from the quality of the portrait, which is similar to that of the medal of Cosimo Serristori, it seems safe to attribute this particular Marchetti medal to Soldani, because the signature 'S' is not used by Selvi, and the medal is dated too early for the period of joint work by Soldani and Selvi, c.1715. Lankheit is not certain of the date when this joint activity began'.
Historical context
A medal of Giovanni Matteo Marchetti with the inscription, Hinc priscae redeunt Artes, on the reverse is recorded in a list of medals (1743) made by Soldani that was given to Tarpato (Lodvico da Verrazzano) by Ab. Bartolommeo Vaggelli, a former pupil of Soldani. It also appears on a list given to Tarpatto by Lorenzo and Philip Veber (1742/3).
Subject depicted
Bishop
Summary
This bronze medal depicts Bishop Marchetti of Arezzo, facing to the right and wearing a berrettino and mozzetto. It is the work of Massimiliano Soldani, the last great Florentine bronzeworker in the tradition leading from Lorenzo Ghilberti through Giambologna to Pietro and Ferdinando Tacca. The medal has no reverse side.
Bibliographic references
  • Flaten, Arne Robert. Medals and plaquettes in the Ulrich Middeldorf collection at the Indiana University Art Museum, 15th to 20th centuries, Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 2012, p. 64, n. 89 (another example of this medal).
  • Vannel, Fiorenza, and Toderi, Giuseppe. Medaglie italiane del Museo Nazionale del Bargello, 4 vols., Florence: Edizioni Polistampa, 2003-2007, vol. II, 2005, p. 28, no. 209-212 (other examples of this medal).
  • Börner, Lore, Die italienischen Medaillen der Renaissance und des Barock (1450-1750), Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1997, p. 306, no. 1499 (another example of this medal).
  • An important Collection of Renaissance and Baroque Medal and Plaquettes, auction catalogue (Spink in association with Christie’s, 21 May 1996), p. 158, no. 304, p. 159 fig. 304 (another example of this medal).
  • Avery, Charles. "Who was Antonio Selvi? New documentary data on medal production in Soldani’s workshop", in The Medal, no. 26, 1995, p. 34, fig. 14.
  • Vannel, Fiorenza, and Toderi, Giuseppe. La Medaglia barocca in Toscana, Florence: Studio per Edizioni Scelte, 1987, p. 65, n. 52 (another example of this medal).
  • Cantelli, Giuseppe. Una raccolta Fiorentina di medaglie tra ‘600 e ‘700, Tipografia Artigiana Fiorentina, Firenze 1979, pp. 90-91, no. 41 and figs. 41R and 41V (another example of this medal).
  • Lankheit, K. Florentinische Barockplastik, Munich, 1962, no. 349, 350, pp. 283-4.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.1-1966

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O313699/giovanni-matteo-marchetti-bishop-of-medal-soldani-benzi-massimiliano/
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