ITALY. Mantua. Luigi Gonzaga di Palazzolo, ? - 1549. Medal (Bronze, with traces of silvering, 68 mm, 122.00 g, 6 h), a so-called Gonzaga restitution medal of the Nobili Gonzaga series; combining two uniface pieces showing a father (reverse) and son (obverse). ALOYSIVS GONZAGA IO PETRI F Bearded bust of Luigi I Gonzaga di Palazzolo (? - 1549, in Borgo Virgilio) to left, wearing fur-line robe and a berretta. Rev. IO PETRVS GONZ ANT F Youthful bust of Giampetro Gonzaga (?-1511), wearing simple robes, a chain of office and a berretta with a turned up edge. Hill 277 (obverse) and 278 (reverse). A very fine and sharp contemporary cast, with traces of original silvering. Extremely rare!. Extremely fine.

From the collection of a Bon Vivant and that of L. Stack, Morton & Eden, 9 December 2009, 54, ex Morton & Eden, 11 December 2008, 253.

Giampetro Gonzaga, son of Antonio Gonzaga and Francesca deli Uberti, was a soldier who was knighted by Ercole I d'Este of Ferrara in 1481. His son, Luigi/Aloysius (not to be confused with Aloisio Gonzaga, Marquis of Castel Goffredo - 1494-1549, in Castel Goffredo) was a soldier who was named a senator by Massimiliano Sforza in 1513; later he was a councillor of Franceso II Gonzaga, and in 1530 helped run the coronation of Charles V as emperor in Bologna. Retiring to Borgo Virgilio in Borgoforte, he devoted himself to literary pursuits until his death in 1549. His son Curzio (1530-1599) became the first Marquis of Palazzolo in 1595.