Medal: Federigo da Montefeltro

Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino)

model ca. 1474 (possibly cast 19th or 20th century) · Bronze (Copper alloy with brown to green patina with traces of black wax). · Robert Lehman Collection

The obverse bears a portrait of Federigo da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino (1422 – 1482). On the reverse are five putti bearing a shield on which rest a globe, two cornucopias, and an eagle with the Montefeltro arms. The medal commemorates Federigo’s election as knight of the Garter in 1474. The medal has been attributed to Pietro Torrigiani (1472 – 1528) on account of similarities with the bronze portrait medallion of Sir Thomas Lovell in Westminster Abbey, London. However, the poor Gothic lettering suggests an artist who was not familiar with this kind of script and argues against Torrigiani’s involvement. This late aftercast may be from the nineteenth or twentieth century.

Artist

Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino)

Date

model ca. 1474 (possibly cast 19th or 20th century)

Medium

Bronze (Copper alloy with brown to green patina with traces of black wax).

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975