Frederick III (1413-1493), Holy Roman Emperor (1452)

Bertoldo di Giovanni

1469 · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Obverse: The origins of the medal in Italy are associated with the 1438/9 visit of a Byzantine emperor. Here the 1469 portrait of another visiting emperor reminds the viewer that commemorative medals were to be associated with the bronze coins of Augustus and his successors. Reverse: Fifteenth-century medals were objects to be handled, turned over and passed from hand to hand rather than permanently displayed, and their two sides were not always aligned. This reverse scene of Frederick III creating knights on the Ponte Sant’ Angelo in Rome, as he did in January 1469, is seen upside down.

Artist

Bertoldo di Giovanni

Date

1469

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Italian

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Assunta Sommella Peluso, Ignazio Peluso, Ada Peluso and Romano I. Peluso, 2010