Medal, self-portrait, bronze, Antonio di Pietro Averlino (known as Filarete), Florence (Italy), before 1465

An elliptic portrait medal showing the right-facing bust of a male figure on the obverse. He is rendered with cropped hair, and wearing a close-fitting dress with a narrow fur trimming. In front of the sitter, a bee is shown sucking a flower, and behind and below, two more bees are depicted. An engraved inscription identifies the sitter as Antonio di Pietro Averlino (known as Filarete): ANTONIVS AVERLINVS ARCHITECTVS.

On th reverse, a man is shown seated on a stool. He holds a mallet and chisel with which he is about to strike the trunk of a laurel tree. Through a cleft in the trunk a honey-comb can be seen, from which a stream of honey flows. The area around the tree is buzzing with bees, and the face of the sun is shining above. An engraved inscription accompanies the scene: VT SOL AVGET APES SIC NOBIS COMODA PRINCEPS.

Provenance: Dr Rev Henry Wellesley (1791-1866); his sale, London, Sotheby's, 31 May - 1 June 1866.

The obverse of this self-portrait medal, of which one other copy survives at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, shows Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino or Averulino, born c. 1400 in Florence, d. c. 1469 in Rome), an architect, sculptor and writer perhaps best known for his Trattato d'architettura,a treatise on architecture which describes plans for an ideal Renaissance city. While the self-portrait in profile shown here echoes classical models such as imperial royal coinage, the three bees seen buzzing around the engraved word of architectuscan be interpreted as a form of personal signature. Bees not only appear in some of Filarete's other works, particularly those he made while active in Milan at the court of Francesco Sforza (Hub 2015, p. 57).

The reverse of the medal further expands on the theme of bees, here in the form of an allegory. The seated man with mallet and chisel is usually interpreted as yet another depiction of Filarete himself, either in his profession as a sculptor or as an architect. This seems likely not only because of the stylistic similarities with the portrait on the obverse of the medal, but also because of the similarities with Filarete's other self-portaits, most notably those on the bronze doors of St Peter in Rome, and on the first page of the Codex Trivulzianus (Hub 2015, p. 52). The inscription on this side of the medal has been translated as 'just as the sun allows the bees to thrive and thus increases the blessing of honey, so the prince through his good deeds increases the productivity of artists' (Warnke 1992, p. 104). The scene so makes a compelling statement about the support of the patron (here a prince, possibly Filarete's patron Duke Francesco Sforza) needed to invigorate the work of the artist, just as the sun is needed for the bees to produce honey.

This bronze medal was made by Antonio di Pietro Averlino or Averulino (born c. 1400 in Florence, d. c. 1469 in Rome), an architect, sculptor and writer commonly known under the name of Filarete. On the obverse, the medal shows Filarete's self-portrait accompanied by an inscription and three bees, while the reverse shows an allegoric scene, with the seated Filarete holding a mallet and chisel, and honey flowing from a beehive visible in the open trunk of a laurel tree. The scene is accompanied by the face of the sun and a swarm of bees. The accompanying inscription indicates that just as the sun supports the productivity of bees, the patron (possible a reference to Filarete's patron Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan) supports the work of artists. The medal so is an important testament to the self-understanding and self-representation of an Italian Renaissance artist.

194-1866