Italy / c. 1468
Portrait of Pope Paul II Barbo (obverse) and (reverse)
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Portrait of Pope Paul II Barbo (obverse) and (reverse) as sculpture (Italy · c. 1468).
Rediscovered with fervor in fifteenth-century Italy, profiles on ancient coins provided dignified models for portrait medals of Renaissance elites.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as bronze and credits Cristoforo di Geremia (Italian, active 1456–76).
The museum's collection notes: This medal is part of a series of four oval medals that celebrated Pope Paul II as the “Founder of Italian Peace.” Though his renewal of the Italian League in 1468, Paul aspired to maintain peace among the independent Italian states and evade foreign incursion. In previous years, infighting between Florence, Venice, Ferrara, Milan, Naples, and Bologna had left the peninsula vulnerable to Turkish invasion.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtPortrait of Pope Paul II Barbo (obverse) and (reverse)Original explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.