Medal — Francesco II Gonzaga, Mantua, ca. 1500 - ca. 1505

Medal in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number 7911-1863), made in Mantua, dated ca. 1500 - ca. 1505, attributed to Cavalli, Gian Marco. The museum's brief description reads: Medal, bronze, bust of Francesco II Gonzaga, ascribed to Gian Marco Cavalli, Italy (Mantua), ca. 1500-1505. Museum description: This medal depicts on the obverse the bareheaded bust of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua. He is represented with a pointed beard and dressed in a cuirass. On the reverse is a figure of the Marquess distributing gifts. Here is clad in all' antica armour, standing on a garlanded base, giving three ears of corn to a toga'd figure, while a bald-headed supplicant approaches on the left. Behind stands a helmeted female figure carrying a palm. Inscriptions on both sides. The museum records it as Bronze, measuring Diameter 3.49 cm. These details come from the museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.