medal
- Museum number
- 1923,0611.8
- Description
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Cast gilt-bronze medal. (whole)
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Large bust of Donato di Angelo Bramante facing to the left in profile, nude, His arm is cut off as in a sculptured bust. Pearled border. (obverse)
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Architecture, as a female figure, wearing tunic and diadem with long fluttering tie flouting down her shoulders. She is seated to the front her headfacing right, she is holding in her right hand a square and in her left hand a compass; her right foot is resting on a weight. In the background to the right is a view of St. Peter's according to Bramante's design. Pearled border. (reverse)
- Production date
- 1505
- Dimensions
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Diameter: 44 millimetres
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Weight: 34.52 grammes
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- Blurton 1997
The reverse of a medal was used to express the particular virtues of the medal's subject. It might therefore employ a well-known representation of virtues like faith or charity, which were depicted as women carrying an easily recognized attribute. Alternatively the subject could be identified with a famous historical or mythological figure, a god or goddess or a man or woman famous for particular qualities. But medals were often intended to provoke scholarly debate and so the reverse imagery was sometimes intentionally obscure, turning the medal into a riddle to be solved. Thus traditional personifications might be adapted or new images invented.
Traditionally attributed to the Milanese goldsmith, Caradosso Foppa, this piece is now thought to be a self-portrait by the great Italian architect, Bramante. Enormously well-versed in the idiom of classical architecture, Bramante was keen to raise the status of the architect from artisan to artist. Hence his invention of the personification of Architecture seen here, and the fact that she has been given the established attributes of greatly respected Geometry. The figure of Geometry was often accompanied by a depiction of the ancient geometrician, Euclid. Thus Bramante was deliberately putting himself on a par with a figure famous for his intellect rather than for his manual skills. In the background is the cathedral of Saint Peter's in Rome, according to Bramante's pioneering design.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
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Exhibited:
1998 9 Feb-3 May, India, Mumbai, Sir Caswasjee Jahangir Hall, The Enduring Image
1997 13 Oct-1998 5 Jan, India, New Delhi, National Museum, The Enduring Image
- Acquisition date
- 1923
- Department
- Coins and Medals
- Registration number
- 1923,0611.8
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: Hill, 657f
- C&M catalogue number
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MI1 (Hill 1930) (170) (657) (F)
