DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68735#0075
PIER JACOPO D
up, and robe; truncation hollowed out at
back.
Rev. VN1VERSAE ITALIAE LIBERATORS and,
in exergue, BARTVLVS | TALPA Curtius, nude,
wearing helmet with crest of triple plume and
long ribands, holding sword in r., riding r. on
rearing horse into flames blazing from the
ground. Double exergual line.
BONACOLSI 206-7
Ann. I, 83, 2 (80 mm.). Litta, Gonzaga, no. 12 (Coll.
Leopoldo Volta, Mantua). Friedl., p. 128, no. 2.
[a. PL 37-]
(«) Berlin, 80 mm. Friedl., Pl. xxiii, 2. Hab., Pl. Iv, 2.
(6) Modena, f 80 mm. (c) Henry Oppenheimer, lead,
80 mm. B. F. A. C., Ital. Sc., p. 99, no. 27. Perhaps
the J. C. Robinson specimen {Catal., no. 51).
These two medals are evidently a pair ; the latter alludes
to the victory over the French at Fornovo in 1495, and
both doubtless date from shortly after that event.
I ANTONIO ATARI
PIER JACOPO DI ANTONIO ALARI (OR ILARIO)
BONACOLSI, CALLED L’ANTICO
THIS celebrated bronze-worker and medallist was probably born in Mantua about
1460 or a little earlier; he was married and had children by 1499. He would seem to
have been trained as a goldsmith and sculptor. He may have been first employed
in Mantua by the Marquess Federigo; but he worked for the Marquess’s brother
Gianfrancesco in Bozzolo; when the latter died in 1496 he settled in Mantua in the
service of the Marquess Francesco. A visit to Rome is recorded in 1497. On his
return he stayed long at Bozzolo, employed by the Bishop Lodovico, but also in corre-
spondence with Antonia del Balzo and the Marchesa Isabella, for whom he worked to
the end of his life. His last years from 1501 were spent at Gazzuolo, where he died in
mid-July 1528. He is most famous for his small bronzes, fresh and graceful adaptations
of the antique. His work in medals for Gianfrancesco of Bozzolo is generally supposed
to have begun about 1480; their style is particularly neat and graceful; if the Giulia
Astallia is his, he was capable of pathos and charm as well.
Arm. I, p. 61 f. Gaye, Cartcggio, i, p. 337, no. clxvi. Carlo d’Arco, Delk arti e deglt artefci in Mantova (1857), ii, p. 40,
no. 50. Molinier, Les Plaquettes (1886), i, p. 68 f. U. Rossi in Riv. Ital., i (1888), pp. 161-94, 433-54- A. Bertolotti, Figuli,
fonditori e scultori in rel. con la corte di Mantova (1890), pp. 48-50. U. Rossi in Arch. Stor. dell'Arte, iii (1890), pp. 27, 29.
Fabriczy, p. 50. Bode in Zeitschr. f. bild. Kunst, xv (1904), p. 37. The same in Kunst u. Kunstler, v, pp. 297-303, and in
Italian Bronze Statuettes, i (1907), pp. 33-5. Thieme-Becker, Lex., i (1907), s.v. Antico. Luzio, Isabella cPEste e il sacco di
Roma {Arch. Stor. Lomb., 1908), p. 369. H. J. Hermann in Jahrb. d. kh. Samml. d. A. H. Kaiserhauses, xxviii (1910),
pp. 201-88. Hill, Med. Ren. (1920), pp. 50 f. Hab., pp. 87-8. Hill in Arethuse, i (1923-4), pp. 16 f.
GONZAGA (Gianfrancesco), di Rodigo,
and his wife ANTONIA DEL BALZO.
The first six medals of Gianfrancesco Gon-
zaga (206-11) have two types of obverse,
similar in the inscription and head, but differing
in the clothing of the bust:—■
Type A. JOHANNES FRANCISCVS « GONZ <
Bust 1., hair curly at ends, cloak fastened on 1.
shoulder with bulla. Pearled border. See
Pl. 38, no. 206.
Type B. Similar to Type B, but doublet and
chain with pendant instead of cloak fastened
with bulla. See Pl. 38, no. 210.
206. Obv. Type A.
Rev. FOR • VlCTiO in arc above, ANTI in ex-
ergue. Fortune with Mars (?) and Minerva (?).
Fortune stands to front on a starry sphere on
a ship’s prow, pointing upwards with r.; on 1.
Mars (?), nude, cloak over r. shoulder, his arms
tied behind his back to a tree; on his 1. trophy
of a shield charged with thunderbolt, cuirass,
helmet, &c.; on r. Minerva (?), r. resting on
spear, 1. on shield (charged with gorgon-head)
which forms part of another trophy. Pearled
border.
Arm. I, 62, i (40 mm.). Hermann, Pl. xxxiv, 1. Rossi,
Pl. xii, 1. [c. PL 38.]
(a) Berlin, 40 mm. Hermann, loc. cit. (Z>) Florence,
39 mm. Sup., no. 72. Fair, (c) London (George III),
| 40 mm. Keary, no. 49. S.I.M., Pl. 19, 1. (</) Mi-
lan (Med. Mun.), | 40 mm. (e) Another, | 41 mm.
(/) Another (Brera), 140-5 mm. Litta, Gonzaga, no. 56.
(^■) Paris, 40 mm. (7?) Venice, Mus. Arch., | 40 mm.
(/) Vienna, 40 mm.
The thunderbolt was an impresa of Gianfrancesco II.
(See no. 208.) Mars is bound, as being conquered by
Fortune? On copies of the reverse in plaquettes and sculp-
ture, see Hermann, loc. cit.
207. Obv. Type B.
Rev. Similar to no. 206.
Hab., Pl. Ixiii, 3.
[51]
up, and robe; truncation hollowed out at
back.
Rev. VN1VERSAE ITALIAE LIBERATORS and,
in exergue, BARTVLVS | TALPA Curtius, nude,
wearing helmet with crest of triple plume and
long ribands, holding sword in r., riding r. on
rearing horse into flames blazing from the
ground. Double exergual line.
BONACOLSI 206-7
Ann. I, 83, 2 (80 mm.). Litta, Gonzaga, no. 12 (Coll.
Leopoldo Volta, Mantua). Friedl., p. 128, no. 2.
[a. PL 37-]
(«) Berlin, 80 mm. Friedl., Pl. xxiii, 2. Hab., Pl. Iv, 2.
(6) Modena, f 80 mm. (c) Henry Oppenheimer, lead,
80 mm. B. F. A. C., Ital. Sc., p. 99, no. 27. Perhaps
the J. C. Robinson specimen {Catal., no. 51).
These two medals are evidently a pair ; the latter alludes
to the victory over the French at Fornovo in 1495, and
both doubtless date from shortly after that event.
I ANTONIO ATARI
PIER JACOPO DI ANTONIO ALARI (OR ILARIO)
BONACOLSI, CALLED L’ANTICO
THIS celebrated bronze-worker and medallist was probably born in Mantua about
1460 or a little earlier; he was married and had children by 1499. He would seem to
have been trained as a goldsmith and sculptor. He may have been first employed
in Mantua by the Marquess Federigo; but he worked for the Marquess’s brother
Gianfrancesco in Bozzolo; when the latter died in 1496 he settled in Mantua in the
service of the Marquess Francesco. A visit to Rome is recorded in 1497. On his
return he stayed long at Bozzolo, employed by the Bishop Lodovico, but also in corre-
spondence with Antonia del Balzo and the Marchesa Isabella, for whom he worked to
the end of his life. His last years from 1501 were spent at Gazzuolo, where he died in
mid-July 1528. He is most famous for his small bronzes, fresh and graceful adaptations
of the antique. His work in medals for Gianfrancesco of Bozzolo is generally supposed
to have begun about 1480; their style is particularly neat and graceful; if the Giulia
Astallia is his, he was capable of pathos and charm as well.
Arm. I, p. 61 f. Gaye, Cartcggio, i, p. 337, no. clxvi. Carlo d’Arco, Delk arti e deglt artefci in Mantova (1857), ii, p. 40,
no. 50. Molinier, Les Plaquettes (1886), i, p. 68 f. U. Rossi in Riv. Ital., i (1888), pp. 161-94, 433-54- A. Bertolotti, Figuli,
fonditori e scultori in rel. con la corte di Mantova (1890), pp. 48-50. U. Rossi in Arch. Stor. dell'Arte, iii (1890), pp. 27, 29.
Fabriczy, p. 50. Bode in Zeitschr. f. bild. Kunst, xv (1904), p. 37. The same in Kunst u. Kunstler, v, pp. 297-303, and in
Italian Bronze Statuettes, i (1907), pp. 33-5. Thieme-Becker, Lex., i (1907), s.v. Antico. Luzio, Isabella cPEste e il sacco di
Roma {Arch. Stor. Lomb., 1908), p. 369. H. J. Hermann in Jahrb. d. kh. Samml. d. A. H. Kaiserhauses, xxviii (1910),
pp. 201-88. Hill, Med. Ren. (1920), pp. 50 f. Hab., pp. 87-8. Hill in Arethuse, i (1923-4), pp. 16 f.
GONZAGA (Gianfrancesco), di Rodigo,
and his wife ANTONIA DEL BALZO.
The first six medals of Gianfrancesco Gon-
zaga (206-11) have two types of obverse,
similar in the inscription and head, but differing
in the clothing of the bust:—■
Type A. JOHANNES FRANCISCVS « GONZ <
Bust 1., hair curly at ends, cloak fastened on 1.
shoulder with bulla. Pearled border. See
Pl. 38, no. 206.
Type B. Similar to Type B, but doublet and
chain with pendant instead of cloak fastened
with bulla. See Pl. 38, no. 210.
206. Obv. Type A.
Rev. FOR • VlCTiO in arc above, ANTI in ex-
ergue. Fortune with Mars (?) and Minerva (?).
Fortune stands to front on a starry sphere on
a ship’s prow, pointing upwards with r.; on 1.
Mars (?), nude, cloak over r. shoulder, his arms
tied behind his back to a tree; on his 1. trophy
of a shield charged with thunderbolt, cuirass,
helmet, &c.; on r. Minerva (?), r. resting on
spear, 1. on shield (charged with gorgon-head)
which forms part of another trophy. Pearled
border.
Arm. I, 62, i (40 mm.). Hermann, Pl. xxxiv, 1. Rossi,
Pl. xii, 1. [c. PL 38.]
(a) Berlin, 40 mm. Hermann, loc. cit. (Z>) Florence,
39 mm. Sup., no. 72. Fair, (c) London (George III),
| 40 mm. Keary, no. 49. S.I.M., Pl. 19, 1. (</) Mi-
lan (Med. Mun.), | 40 mm. (e) Another, | 41 mm.
(/) Another (Brera), 140-5 mm. Litta, Gonzaga, no. 56.
(^■) Paris, 40 mm. (7?) Venice, Mus. Arch., | 40 mm.
(/) Vienna, 40 mm.
The thunderbolt was an impresa of Gianfrancesco II.
(See no. 208.) Mars is bound, as being conquered by
Fortune? On copies of the reverse in plaquettes and sculp-
ture, see Hermann, loc. cit.
207. Obv. Type B.
Rev. Similar to no. 206.
Hab., Pl. Ixiii, 3.
[51]