Medal — Portrait medal of Filippo Lauri, Rome, 1673 - 1674
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1673 - 1674
Medal in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number A.29-1977), made in Rome, dated 1673 - 1674, attributed to Chéron, Charles-Jean-François. The museum's brief description reads: Medal, Portrait medal of Filippo Lauri, cast in bronze, possibly by Charles-Jean-François Chéron, Rome, 1673-1675; previously ascribed to Gioacchino Francesco Travani..
Museum description: Medal, bronze. Obverse side: Filippo Lauri portrayed in profile to the right, clean-shaven with long hair and voluminous robes. Inscribed around the rim. Reverse side: On the right, an artist, clearly recognisable as Lauri, seated at his easel (placed in the centre of the scene), in the act of reproducing a herm of Ephesian Diana on canvas. The model the artist is painting is set to the left. Above is a sliding ribbon with the inscription.
The museum records it as Cast in bronze, measuring Diameter 5.45 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.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
On the obverse, the medal depicts the painter Filippo Lauri (1623-1694) in profile to the right, with long hair and voluminous draped robes. The son of the painter Balthasar Lawers (Lauri in the Italianised form), Filippo had his first artistic training within the family contest, under the supervision of his brother Francesco, a pupil of the painter Andrea Sacchi. After his brother's death, Filippo then passed into the workshop of Angelo Caroselli until 1652, the date of the latter's death. Lauri was involved as a fresco painter in some of the major decorative campaigns in Rome in the second half of the 17th century, serving very prestigious patrons. However, he was also prolific as a painter of easel works, particularly of small dimensions, to which he devoted almost all his production in the last years of his career. The reverse of the medal shows the painter busy reproducing on canvas a model placed on the left behind the easel. This is a herm of Diana Ephesia, symbolising Nature and thus, in connection with the sphere of art, the process of imitating nature itself that guides the artist's creative process. In this case, however, the motto 'Aemulat et superat' that accompanies the figuration suggests the idea of a painter who not only imitates nature by selecting its most beautiful parts, but even manages to perfect it with his art. The concept alluded to by the reverse appears perfectly in line with the artistic orientations promoted at that time by Giovan Pietro Bellori…
Physical characteristics
- Material
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Diameter 5.45 cm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Cast in bronze
- Maker recorded
- Chéron, Charles-Jean-François
- Place recorded
- Rome
Design
- Inscriptions recorded
- Obverse: 'PHIL.LAVORVS.ROMANVS.PICTOR'; Reverse: 'AEMVLAT.ET.SVPERAT.'
Identification
- Museum object name
- Medal
- Museum object number
- A.29-1977
- Museum system number
- O313704
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type, maker and catalogue references against a specialist reference.