Innocent XII (c. 1690s) Cast Papal Medal

[Iosephus]

Anyone here collect papal (or general Italian) medals? Thought I'd share this recent purchase:

 

Hope for Victory of the Church Over Her Enemies

 

Innocent XII, Undated (c. 1691 - 1700)

 

 

Bronze, 85.7 - 86.8 mm Ø, 141.4 g, rims 2.5 - 2.9 mm

 

Obverse: Bust of Innocent XII facing left, wearing mozzetta, decorative stole, and camauro. Around, . INNOCENTIVS XII . PONT . MAX . On truncation, I . V . F .

 

Reverse: Allegorical figure of a woman walking left, holding a patriarchal cross and olive branches in her right hand and trampling a demon underfoot. In her raised left hand she offers a pot upwards towards a radiant dove. Around, OLLA SPEI MEÆ . PSAL . 59 . ("Pot of My Hope, Psalm 59").

 

A cast medal by Giuseppe Vismara referring to a confidence that the Church will find victory over Her enemies. The reverse inscription and presence of a literal pot in the design is a pun on the pontiff's family name of Pignatelli, which derives from an Italian word for pot. For those without an encyclopedic knowledge of the Psalms, Vismara is kind enough to provide a reference to Psalm 59, from which the reverse inscription is taken (Psalm 60 under Masoretic numbering). The theme of Psalm 59 is that the people of God will prevail after many troubles. The psalm starts with a lament by the people that God has abandoned them and let the enemy win, to which God replies by asserting his rule over the land. The people again lament, but now with the realization that God will help them.

 

The female figure on the reverse, holding a patriarchal cross, is representative of the Church. Trampling a demon (possibly representing heresy) underfoot and holding olive branches, a wish for victory over the Church's enemies and of peace is understood. She offers towards the Holy Spirit (represented by a radiant dove) a physical "pot of hope" representing the pope. In this sense, the medal expresses not only hope for the Church as a body, but perhaps more strongly for hope in the abilities of Innocent XII himself to lead the Church towards victory and peace (or more generally, to have a good and just reign). With this understanding of the theme, the medal might date to the beginning (c. 1791-2) of the pope's reign, when one would look with hope towards the future for the Church under a new pontiff.

 

This example appears to be an early and possibly original cast of with a medium brown patination, rather thin with very high relief. While the rims are less than 3 mm, the maximal total relief is over 9 mm. The casting overall is of excellent quality, with finely textured backgrounds. Though there is some softness around the 8:00 position on the obverse, the remainder of the medal's features are strong with thin, sharp lettering and a lack of defects. Later aftercasts tend to echibit enlarged, mushy lettering throughout, in addition to other defects. The detailing is excellent throughout, including on the small features such as the pope's clothing and hair on the obverse and the descending dove, the demon's head, and the foot of the woman extending into the rim of the reverse. A museum mark of "1692.Z" in white paint is present on the pontiff's shoulder on the obverse, allowing for this piece to be identified as the plate medal for Miselli's Il Papato dal 1669 al 1700; Attraverso le Medaglie.

 

Innocent XII, born Antonio Pignatelli, was elected to the papacy on July 12, 1691. The family name of Pignatelli derives from the Italian word pignatta, referring to a type of earthen pot often used for cooking. In the Neopolitan region, from where the Pignatelli lineage hails, the word is written as pignata (pignate for plural). Various legends surround the reason for the derivation of the familial name. A most basic explanation is that a person who was involved in the craft of making pots adopted it as a surname, similar to the name of Potter in English. A more romantic story details an exploit of a fellow name Landolfo, a captain of troops undertaking an assault on the Imperial Palace of Constantinople. Legend tells that he emerged from the palace with three large silver pots as booty, and thus his surname and coat-of-arms (which features three silver pots) were then derived. Another legend tells the story of Gisulfo, who, in fighting a naval battle against the Byzantines, ran low on ammunition yet won the battle by launching three flaming pots towards the enemy.

[Art]

Beautiful medal and great history. Thanks for sharing with us.

[bill]

I've always been impressed with Papal medals, but they are almost always listed as restrikes. I have no experience with them to know how to tell an original from a restrike. You note some points to look for and that's a start on learning more about the series.

[constanius]

Here is a previous post of mine 'My first Papal Medal'

 

Papal Medal. Pope Pius IX. Obv. PIVS IX. PONT MAX. ANNO XI I. BIANCHI Rev. VI. ID. DEC. AN. CHR. MDCCCLIV. SINE LABE CONCEPTA. Bronze 43 MM BY Bianchi.

The reverse is concaved and gives a wonderful depth to the image.

[Iosephus]

I've always been impressed with Papal medals, but they are almost always listed as restrikes. I have no experience with them to know how to tell an original from a restrike. You note some points to look for and that's a start on learning more about the series.

In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with owning restrikes. If you're interested in learning more about what to look for, I recommend the exhibition catalog Roma Resurgens: Papal Medals from the Age of the Baroque by Nathan T. Whitman and John L. Varriano. There is some discussion at the beginning about the attributes of restrikes and originals, and for each medal, they provide some information on the type of strike they believe it to be, and the reasons behind their thinking.

 

 

 

Here is a previous post of mine 'My first Papal Medal'

A great design for a first! The detail on the reverse is extraordinary. I own one in silver, though it appears that somebody wanted it nice and shiny and polished it sometime in the past:

[yarm]

I particularly like some of the medals of Gregory XVI and Pius IX for their use of perspective. Here's one from 1871 by Bianchi.

 

[thedeadpoint]

That's a very deep perspective. Do you happen to have a pic of the coin rotated so I can see the depth of relief?

[Art]

Beautiful medals.

[constanius]

Wonderful medals, the depth is amazing, quite unlike any other medal I have seen.

[yarm]

Obverse relief (which matches nicely the position of the reverse cathedral interior).

 

 

[thedeadpoint]

Fantastic, yarm! Could you post a pic of the reverse? Sorry for all the pestering!