PISANELLO

Alfonso V (1396—1458), was the king of Aragon (1416–58) and king of Naples (as Alfonso I, 1442–58), whose military campaigns in Italy and elsewhere in the central Mediterranean made him one of the most famous men of his day. After conquering Naples, he transferred his court there. His byname was Alfonso the Magnanimous. He was a key player in Italian politics of the fifteenth century.

Alfonso had lured to Naples outstanding humanists, and he was eager to secure the services of the most celebrated artist of the day: Pisanello, who had portrayed virtually every significant ruler and military commander in the Italian peninsula. Pisanello moved to Naples in 1448 to begin work on the portrait medal of the king, shown here, the largest and most complex medal he has yet designed. On the obverse of the medal the king is shown in the armour resembling what he actually wore. The profile portrait emphasizes the king’s eagle-beak nose. On the reverse, an imperious eagle is perched on a stump, while five smaller birds, including vultures, await their portion of the slain deer.

Alfonso V (1396—1458), was the king of Aragon (1416–58) and king of Naples (as Alfonso I, 1442–58), whose military campaigns in Italy and elsewhere in the central Mediterranean made him one of the most famous men of his day. After conquering Naples, he transferred his court there. His byname was Alfonso the Magnanimous. He was a key player in Italian politics of the fifteenth century.

Alfonso had lured to Naples outstanding humanists, and he was eager to secure the services of the most celebrated artist of the day: Pisanello, who had portrayed virtually every significant ruler and military commander in the Italian peninsula. Pisanello moved to Naples in 1448 to begin work on the portrait medal of the king, the largest and most complex medal he has yet designed. The unusually highly finished drawing shown here is not a preparatory study for the medal, it differs significantly from it. The ostensible purpose of the was to present the king with the components Pisanello had been urged to include, probably after consulting with one or more of Alfonso’s humanist advisers.

This fresco surmount the marble Brenzoni Monument, executed by Nanni di Bartolo. There is a harmonious relation between Pisanello’s fresco of the Annunciation and Nanni’s sculpted scene of the Resurrection of Christ. This gives the impression that the two artists formed a well-integrated team.

Pisanello’s special ability in depicting the courtly life which dominated some of the smaller Italian city states where he worked is revealed in this elegant picture. Unfortunately it has undergone some imaginative modern repainting, especially the aureole surrounding the image of the Virgin and Child in the sky. St George, with the dread dragon at his feet, is dressed in a marvelous suit of armor. The hooded saint is Anthony, appearing with his attributes, the beast and the bell. The picture is signed prominently at the bottom, as if the artist had taken particular pride in it.

Two drawings by Pisanello in the Louvre show Borso d’Este as a young man. These drawings have occasionally been associated with the production of a medal, either by Pisanello or by Amadeo da Milano.

The drawing done in metalpoint seems to have been taken from life and is of great subtlety. In the other drawing, Pisanello has gone over the faint metalpoint marks with pen and ink, working toward a more formal solution.

Borso d’Este (1413-1471) was the ruler of Ferrara for more than two decades. He succeeded his more cultured and intellectual brother Leonello, in 1450. He was made duke of Modena and Reggio by Frederick III in 1452, and in 1471, four months before his death, he was installed as duke of Ferrara.

Two drawings by Pisanello in the Louvre show Borso d’Este as a young man. These drawings have occasionally been associated with the production of a medal, either by Pisanello or by Amadeo da Milano.

The drawing done in metalpoint seems to have been taken from life and is of great subtlety. In the other drawing, Pisanello has gone over the faint metalpoint marks with pen and ink, working toward a more formal solution.

Borso d’Este (1413-1471) was the ruler of Ferrara for more than two decades. He succeeded his more cultured and intellectual brother Leonello, in 1450. He was made duke of Modena and Reggio by Frederick III in 1452, and in 1471, four months before his death, he was installed as duke of Ferrara.

In addition to preparatory studies by Pisanello for formal painted or medallic portraits, there exist drawings done from life as private exercises. Moreover, there are drawings what might be thought of as carefully worked-up physiognomic studies: independent portrait drawings in which the artist moves beyond the mere recording of outward appearance in order to suggest a mood or the character of the model. The present, finely executed drawing of an old man belongs to the latter group.

Cecilia Gonzaga ((1426-1451) was the daughter of the marquess of Mantua, Gianfrancesco Gonzaga who became a cloistered Clarissan nun in 1445. She must have had extraordinary talents; although nothing survives from her hand to demonstrate her achievements, she was extensively praised for her learning by an impressive array of intellectuals.

Although the medal was probably commissioned to honour her erudition, in it she is celebrated for the traditional feminine virtue of chastity. The reverse alludes to this in both classical and Christian terms. Pisanello’s medal, the first of a woman, is one of his most successful medals, integrating the two sides to form a balanced and complementary whole.

The two portrait drawings of 1433 by Pisanello (now in the Louvre), depicting Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437), constitute the first datable portraits by the artist. Sigismund was one of the most tenacious rulers of Europe: margrave of Brandenburg (1378), king of Hungary (from 1387), king of the Romans (from 1414), king of Bohemia (1419-20, 1436-37), and Holy Roman Emperor (1433-37). The drawings testify the process by which Pisanello transformed a rapidly executed record of his sitter into a formal portrait suitable for a court. The drawings must have been made during Sigismund’s two-year sojourn in Italy.

The two portrait drawings of 1433 by Pisanello (now in the Louvre), depicting Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437), constitute the first datable portraits by the artist. Sigismund was one of the most tenacious rulers of Europe: margrave of Brandenburg (1378), king of Hungary (from 1387), king of the Romans (from 1414), king of Bohemia (1419-20, 1436-37), and Holy Roman Emperor (1433-37). The drawings testify the process by which Pisanello transformed a rapidly executed record of his sitter into a formal portrait suitable for a court. The drawings must have been made during Sigismund’s two-year sojourn in Italy.

Filippo Maria Visconti (1392-1447) was the ruler of the duchy of Milan. He was reclusive, overweight, and walked with difficulty. Self-conscious about his unattractive appearance he took to wearing a sort of caftan, and he covered his head, which he shaved at the back, with a hat or turban. He did not want to be portrayed by anyone, with the exception of Pisanello, who was able to turn Visconti’s excessive corpulence into an asset used to convey a sense of strength and determination. Of the images Pisanello made of him, a medal and a black chalk drawing survive. The two works are not related, it is probable that both portraits are based on a lost common source.

The obverse of the medal shows Visconti in the same pose and with the same hat as in the drawing. On the reverse, the dashing mounted figure, wearing tournament armour and holding a jousting lance, evokes the chivalric ambience of the court, as do his mounted companions. Although no longer able to ride once he became obese, Filippo Maria Visconti was nevertheless an avid sponsor of jousts and tournaments.

Filippo Maria Visconti (1392-1447) was the ruler of the duchy of Milan. He was reclusive, overweight, and walked with difficulty. Self-conscious about his unattractive appearance he took to wearing a sort of caftan, and he covered his head, which he shaved at the back, with a hat or turban. He did not want to be portrayed by anyone, with the exception of Pisanello, who was able to turn Visconti’s excessive corpulence into an asset used to convey a sense of strength and determination. Of the images Pisanello made of him, a medal and a black chalk drawing survive. The two works are not related, it is probable that both portraits are based on a lost common source.

The unusually high degree of finish and the exceptional subtlety of the modeling suggest that the drawing may have been done as an independent work of art, as a model for use in producing other likenesses.

During the years 1439 to 1442, Pisanello traveled in northern Italy, and it was in this period that he came into contact with Filippo Maria Visconti, Niccolò Piccinino, Francesco Sforza, and Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. Portrait drawings of the first two survive, as do medals of all four. In each case, it seems likely that the artist had access to his subjects and drew them from life, translating these drawings into the more permanent and distributable medium of bronze.

The condottiere Francesco Sforza (1401-1466) is identified in Pisanello’s medal as the ruler of Cremona and has the name “Visconti” appended to his own, both honours accorded him following his marriage, in 1441, to Bianca Maria, daughter of Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan.

On the obverse of the medal Francesco is shown wearing the hat known as a “beretta alla capitanesca” (captain’s beretta). The reverse is dominated by the profile view of a charger. The horse is of such particularity that critics have suggested it may represent one of Sforza’s favourites. Horses appear in numerous drawings by Pisanello.

On the present medal, Gianfrancesco Gonzaga is celebrated both as a prince and as a military leader. Gianfrancesco Gonzaga (1395-1444) was a successful military captain and a key figure in consolidating Gonzaga rule in Mantua. In 1433, he obtained the hereditary title of marquess from Emperor Sigismund. It is likely that the medal was commissioned in 1447 by Gianfrancesco’s son Ludovico, as head of the family, as part of a program of family celebration by the second marquess of Mantua.

On the obverse of the medal, the marquess appears opulently dressed with a large hat. His role as a military commander is the subject of the reverse, where he wears field armour, holds the baton of command, and sits astride a powerful steed. A dwarf squire, similarly attired for war, is seen from the back.

Pisanello drew these figures of hanged men as preparatory studies for his fresco of St George in Verona. Carefully observed and detailed, they depict one of the grimmer aspects of life in medieval and Renaissance Europe, where the executions of criminals were public events and where bodies or parts of bodies were left on view in the landscape or in designated parts of the city as warnings to the population at large against breaking the law.

The sitter of this drawing is not identified. He wears an extravagant hat similar to those worn by courtly figures in Italian paintings from the 1420s through the 1440s. One such figure occurs e.g. in Masolino’s fresco in San Clemente, Rome (the figure mounted on horseback in the Crucifixion scene).

In addition to preparatory studies by Pisanello for formal painted or medallic portraits, there exist drawings done from life as private exercises. Moreover, there are drawings what might be thought of as carefully worked-up physiognomic studies: independent portrait drawings in which the artist moves beyond the mere recording of outward appearance in order to suggest a mood or the character of the model. The present, finely executed drawing of an old man belongs to the latter group.

In addition to being a painter of panels and frescoes, Pisanello was an innovative bronze-cast medalist. If he did not discover the genre, he was undoubtedly its first effective exponent, although he signed his medals as a pictor (painter). The blindfolded cat on the reverse of Pisanello’s medal of Lionello (Leonello) d’Este, is surely a reference to Lionello’s name: little lion.

Leonello d’Este (1407-1450) was marquis of Ferrara and Duke of Modena and Reggio Emilia from 1441 to 1450. He was one of the illegitimate sons of Niccolò III d’Este. In 1429 Niccolò obtained a papal sanction for Leonello’s legitimisation and named him his heir.

According to contemporary sources, Leonello was an ideal ruler, a perfect prince: wise, gentle, learned, just, pious, and unpretentious. he was a serious intellectual, avid musician, poet, and active patron of the arts. From his sophisticated environment emerged one of the most important innovations of Renaissance art, the portrait medal. Leonello seized upon this new type of imagery with great enthusiasm. In 1441 he brought Pisanello to his court and commissioned from him a series of at least six medals. Each medal bears the prince’s portrait on the obverse, paired on the reverse, with an obscure and complicated image rich in symbolism and in allusions to classical art and learning.

On the reverse of the present medal, one of the three earliest medals, olive-branches flank the curious figure of the three-faced child, who is generally explained as an emblem of Prudence, an essential attribute of the ruler, who looks to past, present, and future.

Leonello d’Este (1407-1450) was marquis of Ferrara and Duke of Modena and Reggio Emilia from 1441 to 1450. He was one of the illegitimate sons of Niccolò III d’Este. In 1429 Niccolò obtained a papal sanction for Leonello’s legitimisation and named him his heir.

According to contemporary sources, Leonello was an ideal ruler, a perfect prince: wise, gentle, learned, just, pious, and unpretentious. he was a serious intellectual, avid musician, poet, and active patron of the arts. From his sophisticated environment emerged one of the most important innovations of Renaissance art, the portrait medal. Leonello seized upon this new type of imagery with great enthusiasm. In 1441 he brought Pisanello to his court and commissioned from him a series of at least six medals. Each medal bears the prince’s portrait on the obverse, paired on the reverse, with an obscure and complicated image rich in symbolism and in allusions to classical art and learning.

On the reverse of the present medal, one of the three earliest medals, two naked men, one young, the other old - the past and the present - facing one another and supporting on their shoulders large baskets filled with olive branches. They stand in a bare landscape that fills the lower part of the field. This is one of Pisanello’s most balanced compositions.

Leonello d’Este (1407-1450) was marquis of Ferrara and Duke of Modena and Reggio Emilia from 1441 to 1450. He was one of the illegitimate sons of Niccolò III d’Este. In 1429 Niccolò obtained a papal sanction for Leonello’s legitimisation and named him his heir.

According to contemporary sources, Leonello was an ideal ruler, a perfect prince: wise, gentle, learned, just, pious, and unpretentious. he was a serious intellectual, avid musician, poet, and active patron of the arts. From his sophisticated environment emerged one of the most important innovations of Renaissance art, the portrait medal. Leonello seized upon this new type of imagery with great enthusiasm. In 1441 he brought Pisanello to his court and commissioned from him a series of at least six medals. Each medal bears the prince’s portrait on the obverse, paired on the reverse, with an obscure and complicated image rich in symbolism and in allusions to classical art and learning.

The present medal was produced to commemorate Leonello’s second marriage in 1444 to Maria of Aragon, the illegitimate daughter of Alfonso the magnanimous (1396-1458), king of Naples and Sicily. The obverse displays a bust-length portrait with Leonello wearing the rich garments reminiscent of those shown in his painted portrait by Pisanello. The lettering is elegant and pure, the portrait bust dignified and majestic.

It is on the reverse where the artist presented a delightful commemoration of the event for which the medal was ordered. In the foreground a lion (Leonello), his tail between the legs, is confronted by Amor (Love), who holds a scroll of music, teaching the king of beast to sing and thereby taming him.

This medal is one of the great masterpieces of medallic art.

The obverse of this medal shows Ludovico III Gonzaga (1414-1478), 2nd Marquess of Mantua, while the reverse depicts Ludovico Riding in Armour. The medal was commissioned from Pisanello by Ludovico at about the same time when he commissioned posthumously a medal of his father, Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, depicting him as a military commander on horseback. The reverse of his own medal bears a strikingly similar equestrian image reinforcing the notion that the chivalric ideals of honour and glory had passed seamlessly from father to son.

In the mid 15th century the portrait medal came of age, manifesting many of the Renaissance’s ideals and achievements, for it linked with the Roman past and ennobled individuals. The Italian Renaissance medal flourished by 1450 and enjoyed a lengthy popularity. Under the painter and architect Pisanello, its virtual originator and finest practitioner, the medal combined naturalism with symbolism and proclaimed the importance of the artist. (Pisanello prominently signed his medals as a painter, OPVS PISANI PICTORIS.)

Pisanello designed medals for the rulers of the smaller Italian courts -the Este family in Ferrara and the Gonzaga in Mantua - and also for Alfonso I at Naples. The obverse of each medal, usually bronze, had a head in profile and the reverse the emblem and/or motto of the person commemorated.

Pisanello’s invention added great charm to the personal devices, often based on his passion, the study of animals. The reverse of Cecilia Gonzaga shows a rocky landscape lit by a crescent moon, in which a semi-nude figure (Innocence) sits with a male unicorn (an emblem of chastity or knowledge tameable only by a virgin). On a pedestal on the right is the artist’s signature.

The obverse of Pisanello’s medals, usually bronze, had a head in profile and the reverse the emblem and/or motto of the person commemorated. Pisanello’s invention added great charm to the personal devices, often based on his passion, the study of animals. The reverse of Cecilia Gonzaga shows a rocky landscape lit by a crescent moon, in which a semi-nude figure (Innocence) sits with a male unicorn (an emblem of chastity or knowledge tameable only by a virgin). On a pedestal on the right is the artist’s signature.

John VIII Paleologus (1392-1448), emperor of Byzantium, was the last ruler but one of the old Roman Empire. He was invited by Pope Eugenius IV to attend a council in Ferrara to discuss the possibility of union between the Greek and Roman churches. The emperor arrived in Ferrara with a large retinue, and he was interested in recruiting support in the West for his conflict against the Turks, who were threatening Constantinople. Pisanello, working in Ferrara for Leonello d’Este, was fascinated by the exotic appearance of the imperial entourage, details of which he recorded in drawings and used in paintings.

Pisanello was commissioned to produce an object commemorating this historic visit. Pisanello’s medal, the first portrait medal of the Renaissance, became the progenitor of all subsequent medals.

Following both ancient and medieval examples, Pisanello placed John Palaeologus in profile on the obverse (front), surrounded by an identifying inscription in Greek. On the reverse (back) Palaeologus again appears in profile, on his horse, stopping to pray at a roadside cross. He is also shown departing across the rock-strewn landscape at left. Inscriptions in both Latin and Greek name Pisanello as the medal’s creator.

This is Pisanello’s first medal of John VIII Palaeologus, Emperor of Constantinople. It was commissioned when the Emperor came to Florence for the Council of Ferrara and Florence.

John VIII Palaeologus (1390-1448) was a Byzantine emperor who spent his reign appealing to the West for help against the final assaults by the Ottoman Turks on the Byzantine Empire.

Son of Manuel II Palaeologus, John was crowned co-emperor with his father in 1421 and succeeded him in July 1425. He ruled the area immediately surrounding Constantinople, while his brothers governed remnants of the fragmented empire in the Greek Peloponnese and in the districts on the Black Sea.

Constantinople was besieged in June 1422 by the Turkish sultan Murad II, and when the Turks took Thessalonica (modern Thessalon�ki, Greece) in March 1430, John turned to the West for help. In 1437 he went to Italy, where he brought about a union between the Byzantine and Latin churches at the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1439). Western efforts against the Turks failed, and the union stirred dissension among the Byzantines, who refused to submit their church to the papacy. John’s spirit was broken, and intrigues over the succession, coupled with news of the Turkish victory over the Hungarians in the Second Battle of Kosovo in October 1448, hastened his death.

Pisanello made commemorative medals of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga (1395-1444) and his children, Ludovico and Cecilia, in the second half of the 1440s.

Leonello d’Este popularised Pisanello’s medals, using them as diplomatic gifts to cement relationships with dignitaries throughout Europe. In one example, announcing Leonello’s marriage to Mary of Aragon, natural daughter of King Alfonso of Naples, Pisanello anchors his patron’s bust with a Latin inscription across his shoulders that translates as Leonello d’Este Marquis. The qualifying descriptor “of Ferrara and Modena” appears in the curve beneath. the obverse provides a charming commentary on the event. at the right Cupid patiently points out musical notes on a scroll to a very meek lion, tail between his legs, who is learning to sing. In the background an eagle keeps watch. The work is inscribed with Pisanello’s name above Cupid’s head.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 4 minutes):

Francesco Gasparini: The Meddlesome Cupid, aria

Niccolò Piccinino (1386-1444) was among the most accomplished condottieri (mercenary soldiers) who were hired by the contending city-states, principalities, and foreign invaders in Italy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He was extremely short, as indicates his name, the “tiny one.” He worked primarily for the duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, who in 1439 adopted Piccinino, hence his title in the legend of the medal: “Niccolò Piccinino Visconti, marquess, great captain and a second Mars.”

During the years 1439 to 1442, Pisanello traveled in northern Italy, and it was in this period that he came into contact with Filippo Maria Visconti, Niccolò Piccinino, Francesco Sforza, and Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. Portrait drawings of the first two survive, as do medals of all four. In each case, it seems likely that the artist had access to his subjects and drew them from life, translating these drawings into the more permanent and distributable medium of bronze.

In the drawing Piccinino is represented in civilian dress, as he would undoubtedly have appeared when he sat for the artist, but that changed into armour for the medal, the latter communicating to a wider audience the subject’s profession as a renowned soldier. Aside from putting Piccinino in armour, Pisanello closely followed the main features of the drawing, compressing them somewhat, however, owing to the reduction in scale and in order to fit the composition into the circular format of the medal.

On the reverse of the medal, Pisanello referred to Piccinino’s place of birth, Perugia, and to his mentor Braccio da Montone, a fellow Perugian, by depicting a powerful griffin, emblem of Perugia. Referring to the legend of Romulus and Remus, the two founders of Rome who were raised by a she-wolf, the griffin here nourishes the two generals as infants. As in most of his medals, Pisanello achieved here a remarkable balance between portrait and reverse image, lettering, and field, all composed within the constricting limits of a small circle.

Niccolò Piccinino (1386-1444) was among the most accomplished condottieri (mercenary soldiers) who were hired by the contending city-states, principalities, and foreign invaders in Italy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He was extremely short, as indicates his name, the “tiny one.” He worked primarily for the duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, who in 1439 adopted Piccinino.

During the years 1439 to 1442, Pisanello traveled in northern Italy, and it was in this period that he came into contact with Filippo Maria Visconti, Niccolò Piccinino, Francesco Sforza, and Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. Portrait drawings of the first two survive, as do medals of all four. In each case, it seems likely that the artist had access to his subjects and drew them from life, translating these drawings into the more permanent and distributable medium of bronze.

In the drawing, Piccinino is represented in civilian dress, as he would undoubtedly have appeared when he sat for the artist, but that changed into armour for the medal, the latter communicating to a wider audience the subject’s profession as a renowned soldier. Pisanello’s innovative use of black chalk enabled him to endow the features of his sitter with a delicately modeled, relieflike quality that could serve equally for a painting or a medal.

The artist depicted Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437), King of Hungary and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, full face, turned slightly away from the plane of the picture. The king wears a brocade garment edged with fur, and on his head there is his characteristic fur hat with ear-flaps. His wavy hair and beard are grey, his aquiline nose is long, his lips half opened. He looks somewhat upwards into the distance, his eyes are blue, as is the background. Whoever the artist was, Pisanello or somebody else, he created a picture in which the most delicate nuances have been achieved by the means of graphic art.

At first glance the face appears to be extraordinarily lively, but if we observe it more thoroughly we cannot but notice that it shows a certain heraldic rigidity. This may be due to the hard evenness of the eyes, the improbable regularity of the teeth, which look like a row of pearls, to the sharp contours of the cherry-red lips or the hair and beard, the hairs of which are drawn with separate lines. But all this does not point to the painter’s clumsiness. These are, on the one hand, the stylistic marks of the International Gothic style, with its fondness for decorativeness, which one has to recognize, and, on the other, the endeavour to record the ideal type of a ruler, generally valid and easy to remember, and not only the individual, incidental features of Sigismund.

A certain regularity is characteristic of the whole composition, which nearly touches the frame on all sides. On all four sides the face and the neck are encircled by soft, brown fur, identical in colour and texture. The slight asymmetry caused by the turn of the head is counterbalanced by the pattern, more thickly drawn than the rest, on Sigismund’s garment, a bit left from the centre.

The first half of the fifteenth century saw the growth and development of portraiture as a genre. Among the artists who practiced portraiture were Jacopo Bellini, Masaccio, Domenico Veneziano, and Pisanello. Pisanello depicts his patron Leonello d’Este, Lord of Ferrara, in profile, giving a characteristic view of the sitter. Pisanello’s style was very well suited for this northern Italian court.

Leonello d’Este (died 1450) was born into one of the oldest families whose origins date back to the time of Charlemagne in the early 9th century when they settled in Lombardy. The area controlled by the Este family had grown from century to century. They were Lords of Ferrara and its hinterland (Modena and Reggio). In the Quattrocento they earned a reputation as important patrons of the arts and sciences.

This painting has been associated with the 1441 competition held between Jacopo Bellini and Pisanello to paint Leonello’s likeness. However, recent research makes it unlikely and dates the painting somewhat later, c. 1444.

To categorize as Gothic or Renaissance certain Italian painters active at the beginning of the 15th century is rather difficult. Pisanello used medival patterns in a ‘modern’ way, through the composition, the ‘pictorial architecture’ of Masolino or Masaccio, though without being familiar with their mathematical model of perspective. As a consequence, he sometimes fell back on medieval techniques. This portrait of a young woman (assumed to be Ginevra d’Este) is flat, and its flowers and butterflies, though drawn from nature, seem like ornamental patterns from French or Flemish tapestries.

On the right of the fresco St George, the golden-haired hero of the story, has dismounted after rescuing the princess, who stands in regal profile to the side of his horse. Most of the gold and silver that were glued onto the fresco have fallen away, but the sheer length of the princess train and the elaboration of St George’s armour suggest how alluring the surface must have been. In the background a magical city of Gothic towers and delicate tracery can be seen.

This medal is dated to the 1440s on the basis of the artist’s appearance. The authorship of the medal is debated, it is ascribed to an unknown Ferrarese follower of Pisanello by some scholars. The letters on the reverse side are the initial letters for the Cardinal Virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance.

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 commissioned two medals from Pisanello about 1445, which depict him in field armour and are decorated with heraldic devices. Shortly thereafter, 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.

On this medal, Pisanello focuses on Sigismondo’s military success. On the obverse the sitter is shown in armour with the Malatesta heraldic emblem ornamenting his right shoulder. In the inscription he is identified as captain general of the papal forces. On the reverse, he appears on horseback in full field armour, leading with the baton of command raised in his right hand. The fortified building in the background bears the date 1445, and the Malatesta shield is displayed on the adjacent tower.

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 commissioned two medals from Pisanello about 1445, which depict him in field armour and are decorated with heraldic devices. Shortly thereafter, 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.

The obverse of the present medal shows his portrait in profile, while the reverse depicts Sigismondo Armed and Holding a Sword.

Pisanello was educated in Verona his first master was Stefano da Verona. He worked in Venice with Gentile da Fabriano on the frescoes of the Palazzo Ducale, then in the court of the Gonzaga princes in Mantua. He went to Rome with Gentile and worked on the frescoes of San Giovanni Laterano (destroyed). Returning to Verona he executed the frescoes of the Pellegrini Chapel in the church Santa Anastasia. Only the detail showing Saint George survived from these frescoes.

Pisanello painted in his native Verona a depiction of a favourite subject of the period, St George, the Princess and the Dragon. It is a large fresco painted in the crown and spandrels of an arch.

In the badly damaged left spandrel Pisanello shows the dragon’s lair where victims’ bones are surrounded by awful animals.

Pisanello was educated in Verona his first master was Stefano da Verona. He worked in Venice with Gentile da Fabriano on the frescoes of the Palazzo Ducale, then in the court of the Gonzaga princes in Mantua. He went to Rome with Gentile and worked on the frescoes of San Giovanni Laterano (destroyed). Returning to Verona he executed the frescoes of the Pellegrini Chapel in the church Santa Anastasia. Only the detail showing Saint George survived from these frescoes.

Pisanello painted in his native Verona a depiction of a favourite subject of the period, St George, the Princess and the Dragon. It is a large fresco painted in the crown and spandrels of an arch.

In the right spandrel the heroic St George prepares to intervene on behalf of the Princess. Pisanello placed the scene in Verona, showing the princess and the saint in the most elegant clothes of the day. In the background, men, presumably traitors, hang from the gallows. Like Uccello, Pisanello was also engaged by the new devotion to perspectival foreshortening, as is demonstrated by the horses, one seen from behind, and the other seen straight on.

Pisanello was educated in Verona his first master was Stefano da Verona. He worked in Venice with Gentile da Fabriano on the frescoes of the Palazzo Ducale, then in the court of the Gonzaga princes in Mantua. He went to Rome with Gentile and worked on the frescoes of San Giovanni Laterano (destroyed). Returning to Verona he executed the frescoes of the Pellegrini Chapel in the church Santa Anastasia. Only the detail showing Saint George survived from these frescoes.

Pisanello painted in his native Verona a depiction of a favourite subject of the period, St George, the Princess and the Dragon. It is a large fresco painted in the crown and spandrels of an arch.

In the right spandrel the heroic St George prepares to intervene on behalf of the Princess. Pisanello placed the scene in Verona, showing the princess and the saint in the most elegant clothes of the day. In the background, men, presumably traitors, hang from the gallows. Like Uccello, Pisanello was also engaged by the new devotion to perspectival foreshortening, as is demonstrated by the horses, one seen from behind, and the other seen straight on.

John VIII Paleologus (1392-1448), emperor of Byzantium, was the last ruler but one of the old Roman Empire. He was invited by Pope Eugenius IV to attend a council in Ferrara to discuss the possibility of union between the Greek and Roman churches. The emperor arrived in Ferrara with a large retinue, and he was interested in recruiting support in the West for his conflict against the Turks, who were threatening Constantinople.

Pisanello, working in Ferrara for Leonello d’Este, was fascinated by the exotic appearance of the imperial entourage, details of which he recorded in drawings and used in paintings. He made sketches of the emperor, his retinue and their costumes, arms, and horses on two double-sided sheets that once formed facing pages in an album. The second sheet is now in the Art Institute of Chicago.

John VIII Paleologus (1392-1448), emperor of Byzantium, was the last ruler but one of the old Roman Empire. He was invited by Pope Eugenius IV to attend a council in Ferrara to discuss the possibility of union between the Greek and Roman churches. The emperor arrived in Ferrara with a large retinue, and he was interested in recruiting support in the West for his conflict against the Turks, who were threatening Constantinople.

Pisanello, working in Ferrara for Leonello d’Este, was fascinated by the exotic appearance of the imperial entourage, details of which he recorded in drawings and used in paintings. He made sketches of the emperor, his retinue and their costumes, arms, and horses on two double-sided sheets that once formed facing pages in an album. The second sheet is now in the Mus�e du Louvre, Paris.

The verso of the double-sided sheet shows studies of weapons. This sheet and another, now in the Mus�e du Louvre, once formed facing pages of an album.

John VIII Paleologus (1392-1448), emperor of Byzantium, was the last ruler but one of the old Roman Empire. He was invited by Pope Eugenius IV to attend a council in Ferrara to discuss the possibility of union between the Greek and Roman churches. The emperor arrived in Ferrara with a large retinue, and he was interested in recruiting support in the West for his conflict against the Turks, who were threatening Constantinople.

Pisanello, working in Ferrara for Leonello d’Este, was fascinated by the exotic appearance of the imperial entourage, details of which he recorded in drawings and used in paintings. He made sketches of the emperor, his retinue and their costumes, arms, and horses on two double-sided sheets that once formed facing pages in an album. The second sheet is now in the Art Institute of Chicago.

A demonstration of Pisanello’s creative process is provided by this drawing, a study for one of the heads in the fresco of St George and the Princess of Trebizond. This drawing of an easterner was either executed from life or from the memory of a certain individual encountered by the artist, perhaps in Venice.

Pisanello’s animals come out of the Lombard traditions; his sketchbooks record the textures of fur and feathers and the details of animal structure.

This drawing is from the Vallardi Codex.

The cows which are lying in more or less similar positions are represented from three different angles. In Pisanello s studies of animals there is no single emphasized view, he looked at the animal from every side, observed the tension and relaxation of its muscles, the resilience or flabbiness of its skin or hide while it was moving and then depicted it. He did not construct his drawings by simply placing scrupulously observed details side by side, but threw light upon the various details while keeping in mind the whole structure. So profoundly could he pursue the smallest change in the animal’s appearance that he had no need to take an inventory of its limbs, nor to regard the position of its head as a symbol of its body. All we can see represents the whole animal most expressively. This, of course, demands a very high and sophisticated level of draughtsmanship. Pisanello conveyed the animals’ contours and interpreted the different shapes, masses and delicate effects of the surfaces by changing thickness of a single line, or by lines drawn closely side by side with a sure hand and an unbroken, enclosed line.

It is well worth noticing that even if it was only a sheet of studies the artist paid marked attention to the harmony of the composition. The contours of the two cows on the right, sloping towards each other, are symmetrical, and along these lines the same shading might suggest either mass or space.

On the walls of the Sala del Pisanello (also called the Sala dei Principi) in the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, dozens of armed knights, equipped with helmets, lances, and cuirasses, take part in a grand, spirited tournament. This event is set against an expansive landscape with steep valleys, castles, and crenellated towers. Pisanello utilized all his talents to illustrate the legendary story of Lancelot du Lac.

Pisanello’s frescoes are now very difficult to read, both because of the damage they have suffered and because the artist and his assistants never finished them. Part of the cycle survives only in the form of a sinopia.

On the walls of the Sala del Pisanello (also called the Sala dei Principi) in the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, dozens of armed knights, equipped with helmets, lances, and cuirasses, take part in a grand, spirited tournament. This event is set against an expansive landscape with steep valleys, castles, and crenellated towers. Pisanello utilized all his talents to illustrate the legendary story of Lancelot du Lac.

Pisanello’s frescoes are now very difficult to read, both because of the damage they have suffered and because the artist and his assistants never finished them. Part of the cycle survives only in the form of a sinopia.

On the walls of the Sala del Pisanello (also called the Sala dei Principi) in the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, dozens of armed knights, equipped with helmets, lances, and cuirasses, take part in a grand, spirited tournament. This event is set against an expansive landscape with steep valleys, castles, and crenellated towers. Pisanello utilized all his talents to illustrate the legendary story of Lancelot du Lac.

Pisanello’s frescoes are now very difficult to read, both because of the damage they have suffered and because the artist and his assistants never finished them. Part of the cycle survives only in the form of a sinopia.

This sinopia represents a second stage in the evolution of a recently discovered cycle by Pisanello, which has come down to us in rather ruinous condition. Pisanello made the wall drawings after life studies. In this case little remains of the actual painting which originally consisted of an array of chivalric legends, with battles and tournaments.

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In this painting Pisanello employs the techniques of proportion (recognizable from the horse and rider) keenly debated in the Renaissance workshops of Uccello and Donatello, but he also makes use of the vocabulary of International Gothic. The placing of hills, trees, and animals on top of one another is familiar from Franco-Flemish illuminated books; it has been established that Pisanello borrowed motifs from the books of hours by the Limburg brothers.

Incised gold leaf is used for the saint’s garments, and raised plaster covered with gold decorates the horse’s harness, the hunting horn, and the saint’s spurs.

Vittorino da Feltre (1378-1446), was an Italian humanist and teacher, born Feltre, north of Venice. He studied at Padua and later taught there, but after a few years he was invited by the marquess of Mantua to educate his children. At Mantua, Vittorino set up a school at which he taught the marquess’s children and the children of other prominent families, together with many poor children, treating them all on an equal footing. He not only taught the humanistic subjects, but placed special emphasis on religious and physical education. Many of his methods were novel, particularly in the close contacts between teacher and pupil and in the adaptation of the teaching to the ability and needs of the child. He was one of the first modern educators to develop during the Renaissance. Many of 15th-century Italy’s greatest scholars, including Guarino da Verona, Bracciolini Poggio, and Francesco Filelfo sent their sons to study under Vittorino da Feltre.

Pisanello depicted Vittorino with the gentle affection his subject inspired: the famous teacher is shown with a lean, grizzled face, an intense gaze, a faintly bemused smile, an undecorated robe, and a plain hat. On the reverse, the artist characterised his subject with an image rich in implications: a representation in the tradition of medieval Christian symbolism of the Pelican in Her Piety. According to legend, the bird feeds its young by opening its breast and allowing the chicks to drink its blood. The pelican is a symbol of the Passion of Christ.