Portrait medal of Isabella di Capua

Jacopo Nizolla da Trezzo

1546–55 · Bronze (Copper alloy with honey-colored patina under a worn layer of black lacquer or wax) · Robert Lehman Collection

Isabella di Capua was princess of Molfetta in southern Italy. In 1534 she married Ferrante Gonzaga, who served as a general to Emperor Charles V. This signed medal was probably commissioned by Ferrante during Isabella’s residence in Milan. This example is a uniface variant of the medal that bears on the reverse Isabella dressed as a vestal near a classical Roman altar.

Artist

Jacopo Nizolla da Trezzo

Date

1546–55

Medium

Bronze (Copper alloy with honey-colored patina under a worn layer of black lacquer or wax)

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975