Pisanello (Pisa or Verona, by 1395 - about 1455)
Medal of Niccolò Piccinino (1380-1444), about 1441
Bronze, 8.6 cm (3 3/8 in.)
This round bronze metal shows the portrait of a man in profile, facing our left. The background and the figure are of the same mottled brown color. His name is inscribed around the outside border of the round metal: NICOLAUS . PICININUS . VICECOMES . MARCHIO . CAPITANEUS . MAX . (imus A C . MARS . AL TE R (alter). A wide band of a hat fits tightly around his head and leads to a tall, upright section that is creased and folded toward his forehead, resulting in the flat top of the hat tilted forward. He has short hair that reaches only to the middle of his ear. His long, prominent nose is slightly hooked and leads to a small mouth and chin. His wide left shoulder is raised and outlined. The reverse side of the metal shows a side view, facing our left, of a griffin with the mane, body, hind legs, and tail of a lion and the face, forelegs and talons of an eagle. Two small human figures are suckling underneath the creature. There is an inscription PERUSIA on a band around his neck. Another inscription around the periphery of the metal reads BRACIUS . PISANI . P . OPUS . N . PICININUS.
Early Italian Room
Commentary
Niccolo Piccinino was the successful commander of the Milanese forces in their war with the Venetians, and was adopted by the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, at the time of the peace treaty of 1439. The medal, the obverse profile of which is clearly closely related to that of Visconti (see S15w30), was cast about 1441. On the reverse, the griffin, a symbol of Piccinino's native Perugia, is suckling two infants, referring to the legend of Romulus and Remus.
Antonio di Puccio Pisani, known as Pisanello, was an acclaimed painter and lauded as the founder of the modern medal in the Renaissance.
Antonio di Puccio Pisani, known as Pisanello, was an acclaimed painter and lauded as the founder of the modern medal in the Renaissance.