Byzantium and the Origins of the Renaissance Medal
By
In
the modern world, medals are widely used as a means of recognising achievement
and commemorating important people, places and events. The origin of the modern commemorative medal can be traced
back to the 15th century, and it is significant to note the vital
role of the culture of Byzantium in its genesis.
On 2 November
1402 the Duc de Berry purchased two large (c. 90-95mm) table medals from a
Paris-based Florentine merchant named Antonio Mancini.
The medals, of which several copies survive, commemorate the emperors
Constantine I (AD 307-37) and Heraclius (AD 610-41).
They have been tentatively attributed to the hand on the painter Michelet
Saulmon and, given the nature of their subject matter, it is probable that they
were manufactured at the time of the visit of Manuel II Palaeologus to Paris
(c.1400-02).[1]
Their inscriptions display a well-developed grasp of Byzantine chancery
formulae of the early 15th century, whilst their portraits more
closely mirror the features of Manuel II than either of the two earlier rulers
which they purport to represent.[2]
The medal of
Constantine portrays on the obverse a portrait of the emperor on horseback,
surrounded by a Latin inscription Constantinus
Inxro Deo Fidelis Imperator et Moderator Romanorum et Semper Augustus
(Constantine, faithful in Christ our God, emperor and ruler of the Romans and
forever exalted). Upon the reverse
two women, possibly representing virtue and vice, contemplate the cross as it
arises from the Tree of Life (lignum vitae)
and Fountain of Life (fons vitae).
The inscription, which is taken from Galatians 6:14 reads
Mihi Absit Gloriari Nisi in Cruce Domini Nostri Ihv Xri (God forbid that I
should glory in anything save the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ).[3]
Heraclius is
portrayed staring heavenwards, in a posture which recalls the coin portraits of
Constantine the Great, who was recorded by Eusebius (4.15) as ordering ‘his
likeness to be stamped on a gold coin with his eyes uplifted in the posture of
prayer to God … (as) … a sign of the power of divine faith.’
Around the portrait appears a Greek inscription meaning ‘Heraclius,
faithful in Christ our Lord, king and emperor of the Romans, victorious and
triumphant, forever exalted’. In
the field and below the emperor appears a further Greek inscription, ‘Cause
Thy face to shine, O Lord upon our darkness; I will make war upon the
heathen’. The reverse of the
medal portrays Heraclius riding in elaborate cart pulled by three horses.
The inscription tells us that ‘He has trodden on the asp and basilesk
and trampled on the lion and the dragon’ and declares ‘Glory in the heavens
to Christ the Lord, for the Emperor Heraclius has broken through iron gates to
set free the Holy Cross.’[4]
These medals
are the oldest surviving examples of the art form to have been produced in the
post-antique world. They are linked
by the piety of their subjects, Constantine being the emperor who established
Christianity as the state religion of the Roman world; and Heraclius as the
ruler who restored the True Cross to Jerusalem after it had been seized by the
Persians. They are also very much
pieces of their time and, as Sir George Hill observed, ‘they stand at the very
end of the Middle Ages, looking backwards, not forwards.’[5]
The portraits which appeared upon them were not accurate
depictions of the two emperors, and for the first genuine medallic portrait of
the Renaissance, we have to look to Italy and to the work of the painter Antonio
di Puccio (Pisano).
Pisanello, as
the artist is more commonly called, was born at Pisa in about 1385, moving to
Verona with his mother and step-father in 1404. He trained within the North Italian Schools of painting,
spending much of his working life moving around the various courts of Italy in
search of commissions for his work. Although
by 1424 he was already described as a distinguished painter’ (pictor egregius) his earliest surviving work is a signed fresco in
Verona dating from 1426. As Scher[6]
has observed, the movements of Pisanello during the 1430’s are poorly
documented, but works from this period include the famous fresco St
George and the Princesses of Trebizond which is still to be seen in
Verona’s Chiesa de Sant’ Anastasia.
In late 1437
the Byzantine Emperor, John VIII Palaeologus, travelled to the west in the
company of a large retinue. He came
at the invitation of Pope Eugenius IV, who had summoned a church council in
Ferrara. Both the Pope and the
Emperor sought a reconciliation between the churches of the East and West,
whilst John also hoped to obtain as aid for his struggles against the Turks.
The imperial party first visited Ferrara and then, when plague swept the
former city, moved to Florence. Pisanello
was in Ferrara at the time of the imperial visit, and took the opportunity to
make a series of preparatory sketches which were, in due course, to be used as
the basis of the first portrait medal of the Renaissance world.
Other artists and scholars were also greatly influenced by the many
scholars and men of letters who travelled with the Emperor, and it has been
written that they were ‘delighted to find themselves in an environment
conducive to new ideas and reverent of the ancient past.
The Greeks were welcomed enthusiastically and encouraged to stay, thus
accelerating the revival of Greek studies in Renaissance Europe.’[7]
The medal produced by Pisanello in 1438 was one arguably of the greatest and most influential works of the Italian Renaissance. The casting of the medal coincided with a revival in courtly circles of an interest in the coins of ancient Rome. Pisanello may have viewed the visit to Italy of the current Emperor of the Romans as providing a unique opportunity to produce a medallic portrait that continued a series begun in the age of Augustus. Inspired by the artist’s direct contact with the Byzantine delegation, Pisanello’s masterpiece not only influenced the entire art of medal-making, but also provided the world with a portrait which was frequently to be adapted for use in other media. The medal may be described as follows:
PISANELLO: Medal of John VIII Palaeologus (1423-48)
Cast Bronze, 100mm
Obverse:
Bearded
bust of John VIII Palaeologus, wearing tall hat with conical crown and
upturned brim.
O • ΠAΛAIOΛOΓOC
•
Reverse:
Emperor,
on horseback in rocky landscape. Praying before wayside cross.
To the left of the emperor is a mounted page, seen from
behind.
[1]
Spink & Son, An
Important Collection of Renaissance and Baroque Medals and Plaquettes,
(London, 1996), p. 236, lot 422. Hereafter
cited as An important Collection.
[2]
An Important Collection, p. 236,
lot 422.
[3]
Scher, S.K. (ed.), The Currency of
Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance, (New York, 1994), pp. 32-33.
Hereafter cited as Scher, Currency
of Fame.
[4]
Scher, Currency of Fame, pp.
33-37.
[5]
Hill, G. and Pollard, G., Medals of
the Renaissance, (London 1978), p.20.
[6]
Scher, S., ‘Pisanello’s Drawings and Medals’, in Jones, M. (ed.), The
Art of the Medal, (London, 1992), pp. 27-28.
Hereafter cited as Scher, ‘Pisanello’.
[7] Scher, Currency of Fame, p. 46.
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