Impressive Portrait and Architectural Reverse

Federico Cocciola (fl. 1566-1613). Portrait Medal of Prospero Publicola Santacroce (1514-1589).

50.9 mm x 50.4 mm. 64.1 grams. Bronze. Armand I, 263, 5; Kress 377. Bust to right, .PROS PER.SANCTA CRVCIVS.S.R.E.CARD. / Santacroce's villa, GEROCOMIO around, date 1579 below. Medal turn. A handsome early casting with deep brown applied patina over brassy surfaces. Smoothed to gloss in the fields, lightly granular elsewhere. Edges smoothed and finished to roundness. A very handsome example with a high profile portrait. Santacroce was a cardinal who holds the distinction of being the first European to grow tobacco for his own use.

From the Santini Collection of Renaissance Medals. Earlier from the Jonathan H. Kagan Collection of Renaissance Medals.

Estimate: $1500.00 - $2500.00