The thriving trade of major Italian cities such as Genoa, Florence, and Milan created great wealth and a desire to change the medieval ways of life for a more opulent existence. Individual achievement and prosperity in Italian urban society fueled the desire for personal recognition. In Renaissance Italy, medallists such as Antonio Pisanello re-founded the medal as a form of sculpture completely separate from coinage. The development of naturalistic portraiture on coinage was to occur several decades later.
The realistic portraiture first used on the Milanese ducats of the 1460s became the stylistic trademark of the new large silver coins. As the first Milanese lira, it set the pattern for the denomination to spread through Italy and further. The coinage of the Sforza family is marked by expressive and lifelike renderings. Francesco Sforza was the first of his family to appear on a coin. It is fitting that Francesco was the first modern ruler to issue portrait coinage, for he was a Renaissance prince who ruled by the strength of his personal attributes rather than a title which was inherited or constitutional. He occupied the Duchy of Milan in 1450 and ruled until 1466. His son, Galeazzo, occupied the throne next and his profile is on Milan’s first testone, minted in 1474.
As a perfect example of late fifteenth century portraiture, Galeazzo is shown in strict profile as seen in the illustration. The engraver, Caradosso Foppa of Milan, injects in Galeazzo an aloof and cold presence, which foreshadows his assassination in 1476. Caradosso’s masterful depictions of Galeazzo’s beautiful son Giangaleazzo and his brother Ludovico il Moro are amongst the most beautiful coins ever made. The combination of the two on a testone of circa 1490 is an amazingly impressive testament to Caradosso’s talent.
It has been said that Caradosso found inspiration in the designs of Leonardo de Vinci, who spent his most productive years in the court of il Moro. This adds a fascinating historical element and an artistic precedence to the designs. Overall, the coinage of the family Sforza attained a perfection that other families could not match in terms of aesthetic quality or consistency. The Sforza family’s power diminished before its portraiture even began to deteriorate. Eventually, the testone denomination spread throughout Europe and formed the basis for the Lira, the current base denomination of Italy.
Steven R. Roach was a PCGS intern in 1999.
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