Medal — Medal of Pope Urban VIII, Rome, 1629
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1629
Medal in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (museum number A.38-1965), made in Rome, dated 1629, attributed to Mola, Gasparo. The museum's brief description reads: Medal, bronze, Italian, Gasparo Mola, 1629.
Museum description: Medal in bronze, the obverse side with the bust of Pope Urban VIII to the right, wearing the Papal tiara and cope, his right hand raised in the act of benediction with the inscription VRBAN VIII. PON. M. AN. VI, signed GAS. MOLO. The reverse side depicts the canonisation of Andrea Corsini with the Pope enthroned beneath the baldacchino, a sculpted bronze canopy of St Peter's Basilica, surrounded by his prelates, a dove shining above represents the Holy Spirit with the inscription BEATO ANDREA INTER SANCTOS RELATO and in the exergue ROMAE.
The museum records it as Bronze, measuring Diameter 40 mm. 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
This bronze medal of Pope Urban VIII depicts a scene commemorating the canonisation of Andrea Corsini by Urban VIII on 22 April, 1629. Corsini was an Italian Carmelite friar and Bishop of Fiesole who served Pope Urban V (1362-70). He was known for his charitable work and the many miracles attributed to him. Corsini died in Florence in 1373. The medal is by Gasparo Mola (about 1580-1640) and bears his signature. Mola was a goldsmith, medallist, armourer and mint-engraver who worked in Milan, Florence and Turin. He was a superbly skilled metalworker and an example of his work includes a magnificent parade helmet and shield made for the Medici court and once attributed to Benvenuto Cellini which is now in the Bargello museum in Florence. Mola moved to Rome in 1623 where he was made master engraver at the Papal Mint in 1625. The design of the reverse side of this medal seems to be an elaboration of the image on the medal of Gregory XV of 1622, by Giacomo Antonio Moro, who was Mola's predecessor at the Papal mint and who died in 1625.
Physical characteristics
- Material
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Diameter 40 mm
Technical characteristics
- Technique
- Bronze
- Maker recorded
- Mola, Gasparo
- Place recorded
- Rome
Design
- Inscriptions recorded
- Obverse VRBAN VIII. PON. M. AN. VI, signed GAS. MOLO; Reverse BEATO ANDREA INTER SANCTOS RELATO; Exergue ROMAE.
Identification
- Museum object name
- Medal
- Museum object number
- A.38-1965
- Museum system number
- O312335
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.