Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449–1492) and his brother Giuliano (1453–1478) were attacked in the Florentine Duomo during Mass on April 25, 1478, by the rival Pazzi and other anti-Medicean conspirators. These events are illustrated on this unconventional medal by Bertoldo, a lifelong Medici artist. The obverse depicts the attempted assassination and escape of Lorenzo; the reverse shows the assault and fatal stabbing of Giuliano. Above, the brothers’ heroic portrait heads are aligned with the inscriptions SALVS PVBLICA (public well-being) and LVCTVS PVBLICVS (public mourning). The welfare of Florence itself is thereby bound to the fate of the Medici and, in particular, to their miraculously surviving son Lorenzo.
