Isotta degli Atti

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1417-1468), lord of Rimini, Fano, and Cesena, one of the most noted condottieri of the age, clearly understood both the commemorative and diplomatic potential of medallic portraiture. Inspired by the medals cast in Milan, he employed Matteo de’ Pasti, who produced at least sixteen different medals bearing either his likeness or that of his mistress and later wife, Isotta degli Atti (c. 1432-1474). She was the daughter of a well-to-do Rimini merchant, and she became Sigismondo’s mistress sometime about 1446, the year memorialised on the reverse of the present medal. Renaissance princes commonly had mistresses, but it was rare for a prince to actually marry his mistress. Sigismondo did just that about 1455-56.

The present medal is one of five produced in honour of Isotta. The elegant portrait on the obverse is remarkable for the intricate hair arrangement. The elephant on the reverse was a Malatesta emblem and appeared as the crest on the Malatesta arms. The medal as a whole was probably created as a pendant to one of Sigismondo, on which he faces in the opposite direction.