Medal of Julius II
by CARADOSSO, Bronze, diameter 5,7 cm
Caradosso (Cristofore Foppa) was an Italian medallist, son of Maffeo Foppa, goldsmith, and Fiora de Carminalibus de Brambilla. According to Giorgio Vasari, a 16th-century biographer of artists, Caradosso designed the medal which was placed under one of the crossing piers of Saint Peter’s during a ceremony on 18 April 1506. The medal is one of the few sources for the design of Bramante’s St. Peter’s project.