Medal: Francesco II Gonzaga

Bartolommeo Melioli

model ca. 1480 or 1484 (cast 16th or 17th century) · Bronze · Robert Lehman Collection

The obverse bears a portrait of Francesco II Gonzaga (1466–1519), fourth marquess of Mantua. On the reverse is a standing female holding a basket with a scroll and staff, and flanked by water and fire, who may represent the personification of Health, possibly a reference to Francesco’s recovery from a life-threatening illness in 1484. She has also been identified as Prudence or Good Government. The aftercast may date from the sixteenth or seventeenth century.

Artist

Bartolommeo Melioli

Date

model ca. 1480 or 1484 (cast 16th or 17th century)

Medium

Bronze

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975