
tour 12 of 12
Michelangelo: money and medals
Bronze medal of Michelangelo, by Ewa Olszewska-Borys
Many artists have been inspired by Michelangelo
and his art, from his immediate successors to artists of our own
time. Portraits have generally been based on a bronze head modelled
shortly after Michelangelo's death by his assistant Daniele
da Volterra, who probably used a death mask. Other artists,
including medallists, have based their designs on
Michelangelo's
works.
This medal by the
Polish sculptor Ewa Olszewska-Borys marks the five-hundredth
anniversary of Michelangelo's birth. The front carries a
portrait of the artist, while the back is based on his figure of
Dawn from one of the
tombs in the Medici chapel in San Lorenzo,
Florence.