Medal of Lorenzino de' Medici
by CAVINO, Giovanni da, Cast bronze, diameter 4 cm
After having murdered his cousin Duke Alessandro de’ Medici in 1537, Lorenzino de’ Medici (also known as Lorenzaccio), fled to Padua, where he commissioned this medal from Giovanni da Cavino. The medal is a copy of a Roman denarius of Brutus coined after the murder of Julius Caesar. By this medal Lorenzino identified himself with Brutus and his efforts to liberate Rome from a tyrannical despot.
The reverse of the medal shows Pileus between two daggers. Some scholars believe that the medal is not by Giovanni da Cavino but by a Tuscan medalist, possibly Domenico de’ Vetri.