ITALY. Bracciano. Paolo Giordano II Orsini, Duke, 1591-1615-1656. Medal (Bronze, 98 mm, 243.00 g, 12 h), an original cast by Giulio di Grazia (fl. 1610-1634), Naples, 1631. PAVL•IORD• II•BRACC•DVX•D•G•ANG•COM•S•R•I•P• Bare-headed bust of Paolo Giordano to right, wearing a ruff, and a cuirass ornamented, on the shoulder- and breast plates, with boars' heads (the Orsini badge); barely visible on the shoulder truncation, IVL D G[RA]; around, wreath of rose heads. Rev. CONTRA VENTOS ET VNDAS (=against wind and waves, Paolo's motto) A racing skiff propelled to left, against the wind and waves, by four oarsmen and a coxswain; at the stern, banner with the Orsini roses; above, cherub, blowing wind to right, and Fama, flying to left and bearing the laurel branch of victory in her extended right hand; in the exergue, 1631 between two rose sprays; around, wreath of rose heads. Bargello 1207. Clifford 253 (also an original cast, albeit inferior to this one). Extremely rare. A splendid, beautifully finished and sharp cast with a fine brown patina. Extremely fine.

From the collection of a Bon Vivant, and from the Michael Hall Collection, Baldwin's 64, 4 May 2010, 240.

This lovely and rare medal was made in honour of a very cultured Roman nobleman: Paolo Giordano II Orsini was a prominent antiquarian, numismatist (!) and art patron. He grew up in Florence, where he attended the Medici, but on the death of his father he inherited the title of Duke of Bracciano and the family estate near Rome. He made Bracciano an art center, with a collection of paintings, drawings and sculpture (in 1630 he apparently commissioned La Tempete from Claude Lorrain - at the start of his career and now only known from engravings - as an illustration of his motto). He was a friend of Bernini and corresponded with Queen Christina. The reverse of this medal probably relates to a boat race against the Colonnas, won by the Orsinis; the rose refers to the tradition, dating back to 1052, that the Pope would present a rose to the Orsini every Pentacost. The artist responsible for this medal has been identified as being a number of different people: Pollard's discovery of the signature, which he identified as being Giulio della Greca's, seemed to settle the question; it had also been attributed to Bernini and Cormano (= J. J. Kornmann, fl. 1623-1650). However, Vannel and Toderi have recently, and convincingly, reattributed it to the Neapolitan artist, Giulio di Grazia.