ITALY, Papal States. Rome. Vicenzo Costaguti, Cardinal, 1612-1643-1660. Medal (Silver, 42 mm, 36.12 g, 12 h), by A. Hamerani, on the start of the construction of the Villa di Bell' Aspetto, designed by the architect Giovanni Antonio De Rossi, Rome, 1647. VINCENTIVS∙S:R:E:CARD:COSTAGVTVS Bust of Cardinal Costaguti to right, wearing a mozzetta; below the bust, MDCXLVII; on the truncation, ∙HAMERANVS∙F∙. Rev. VT∙GRAVIORA∙ AMŒNIORIBVS∙LENIRENTVR (= so that a severe landscape may be bettered) View of the Villa Costaguti, now the Villa Borghese, within its gardens near the coast at Anzio (actually, Nettuno); in the exergue, Costaguti arms, crowned by a beretta, separating IN∙ANTII-LITTORE / EXTR-VCTA (=erected on the shore at Anzio) . Bargello 528. Very rare. An impressive medal with a fine portrait, a detailed reverse, and very attractively toned. Extremely fine.

From the collection of a Bon Vivant, ex Meister & Sonntag 17, 3 June 2013, 622.

Vincenzo Costaguti (1612-1660), created a Cardinal by Urban VIII in 1643, came from a notable Ligurian family (he was born in Chiavari near Genua). He began building his vacation home on the coast in 1647; it was finished in 1649 and remained in the family's possession until 1818 when it was sold to the Torlonia. They, in turn, sold it, in 1832, to the Borghese, in whose possession it has remained until the present day. Cardinal Costaguti is well-known for his intellectual discussions with Queen Christina of Sweden in Rome during December 1655; she later spent time as a guest in the Villa. Among the Villa's other distinguished guests were Gabriele D'Annunzio and Eleonora Duse, who spent several months there in 1903. More recently, in 1944, the building served as the headquarters of the US Fifth Army's VI Corps following the invasion at Anzio.