To Commemorate the Pazzi Conspiracy, 1478

Bertoldo di Giovanni

1478 · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Obverse: Medals of rulers were thought inappropriate in republican Florence. This piece commemorates the 1478 attack in Florence Cathedral on the Medici, first citizens but not rulers of the city. To make it acceptable, it flouts the rules of medals by combining portrait and narrative on both sides. This side, labeled ‘Public grief’, shows the head and, below, the murder of Giuliano de’ Medici, Lorenzo’s younger brother. Reverse: Modeled and cast in 1478, immediately after Lorenzo de’ Medici survived a murderous attack in Florence Cathedral, this medal renders the events of the day timeless and heroic by giving them a classicizing character. Though both Lorenzo’s features and, below, the choir of the Cathedral are clearly recognizable, the sitter is given classical draperies while the protagonists are depicted nude.

Artist

Bertoldo di Giovanni

Date

1478

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Italian, Florence

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Bequest of Anne D. Thomson, 1923