Portrait medal of Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan

Pisanello (active by 1395 - 1455)

British Museum

1441

The front of this medal is a profile of Fillipo Maria Visconiti, Duke of Milan - an active patron of the arts. The reverse portrays him again, this time on horseback with a backdrop of a mountainous landscape on top of which a large female figure holds a sceptre. This scene may stand for the Duke's chivalric ideals. Ironically, the Visconti, described as a 'paradigm of Christian militarism' was in fact grossly overweight and suffered from severe physical abnormalities. Pisanello, the artist attributed to this piece, subsequently used the idealized bust-length portrait of the Visconti as a model for subsequent depictions of the Duke.

• Medium: bronze
• Dimensions: diameter: 10cm
• ArtFunded in: 1923
• Presented by Henry Van den Bergh through The Art Fund

Provenance

Henry Van Den Bergh

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