Frederick III (1413-1493), Holy Roman Emperor (1452)

Bertoldo di Giovanni Italian

Not on view

Obverse: The origins of the medal in Italy are associated with the 1438/9 visit of a Byzantine emperor. Here the 1469 portrait of another visiting emperor reminds the viewer that commemorative medals were to be associated with the bronze coins of Augustus and his successors.
Reverse: Fifteenth-century medals were objects to be handled, turned over and passed from hand to hand rather than permanently displayed, and their two sides were not always aligned. This reverse scene of Frederick III creating knights on the Ponte Sant’ Angelo in Rome, as he did in January 1469, is seen upside down.

Frederick III (1413-1493), Holy Roman Emperor (1452), Bertoldo di Giovanni (Italian, born Florence (?) ca. 1430–40, died 1491 Poggio a Caiano), Bronze, Italian

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Frederick III (1413-1493), Holy Roman Emperor (1452), Bertoldo di Giovanni (Italian, born Florence (?) ca. 1430–40, died 1491 Poggio a Caiano), Bronze, Italian
Frederick III (1413-1493), Holy Roman Emperor (1452), Bertoldo di Giovanni (Italian, born Florence (?) ca. 1430–40, died 1491 Poggio a Caiano), Bronze, Italian

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