Italy, Cristoforo di Geremia (fl. 1456-76), Alfonso V of Aragon (1396-1458), bronze medal, bust to right resting on a crown, wearing a richly decorated cuirass, rev., VICTOREM REGNI MARS ET BELLONA CORONAT, Alfonso in antique armour seated right holding sword and orb, crowned by Mars and Bellona; signed on the exergual line, CHRISTOPHORVS HIERIMIA, 76mm (Hill 754 (75-76mm); Arm. I, 31,1; Bargello 156; Kress 210 = Pollard 240; Scher, Currency of Fame, 35; Scher coll. 73), minor marks but a very fine contemporary cast with brown patina Alfonso’s bust set upon a crown is copied from Pisanello’s Venator Intrepidus medal made in c. 1449 (Hill 42) and the victory of both medals probably alludes to his conquest of Naples from the Angevins in 1442 and the celebrations that took place afterwards. Hill and others have dated the present medal to around the time of Alfonso’s death in 1458. It is one of only two medals that are signed by the artist, the other being the medal of Constantine the Great (as Hill 755) – and it is generally considered to be his best medallic work with the reverse reflecting the court style of Mantegna.

Estimate: GBP 5000-7000