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Italian States, Republic of Florence, Alessandro de' Medici (1532-1537), testone, silver
(Object)
Language
Latin
Persons
de' Medici, Alessandro
, Duke of Florence between 1532 and 1537, 1510-1537
(issuer)
Cellini, Benvenuto
, Florentine goldsmith, sculptor and musician, 1500-1571
(engraver, mintmaster)
Value
1 testone
Origin
Florence
, Italy: Alessandro de' Medici, 1532-1537
Other years/dates
Date on object:
1532-1537
Physical description
29
(diameter)
mm
Weight:
9,97 g
Material:
silver:
Technique:
coined
Format:
Non digital + Digital, reformatted digital
Axis clock:
3
Conservation state:
Edge loss, Off center, Worn, Corrosion, Die crack reverse
Notes
Obverse description: Draped and armored bust of Alessandro de Medici with curly hair facing left.
Reverse description: Full portraits of St. Kostmas (with drug bottle) and Damian (with book in hands).
Obverse legend: ALEXANDER. M(EDICI). R(EI).P.(UBLICAE).FLOREN(TINAE). DUX (''Alexander de' Medici, duke of the republic of Florence'').
Reverse legend:S(ANCTUS) COSMUS. S(ANCTUS) DAMIANUS (''Saint Cosmus and Saint Damian'').
History: Being determined to make his absolute authority known to everyone, Alessandro de’ Medici ordered the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) to design a new coin with his portrait on it. He specifically instructed Cellini to model his effigy after a young Septimius Severus, a Roman emperor who shared Alessandro’s North African descent. For the whole of the fifteenth-century, the portrait had been characteristic of medals which were prestigious, but essentially private artistic creations. However, with the new testone or 2 lira coins, Alessandro made it evidently clear that the right to mint currency no longer belonged to the city but to himself. Though the duke would venture to say that the new testones were ‘‘the most beautiful coins in Christendom,’’ many historians believe that the fact his portrait appeared on a coin was one of the factors that led to his murder in 1537.
Literature
CNI XII 244/16.
RM 323/1.
Object type
Coin
Contact
Contact us
Location
Uppsala University Coin Cabinet
Universitetshuset, Biskopsgatan 3
Box 256
751 05 Uppsala
Identifiers (general)
urn:nbn:se:alvin:portal:record-344850
(nbn)
Identifiers (local)
104733
(Inventory number)
alvin-record:344850
(alvin)
Licensing of the work
Public Domain Mark (No Known Copyright)
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Link to record
Permanent link
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:alvin:portal:record-344850
Direct link
https://www.alvin-portal.org/alvin/view.jsf?pid=alvin-record:344850
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