Medal of Filippo Maria Visconti, 3rd Duke of Milan Obverse

Medals emerged in the Renaissance as a result of the combined interest in antiquity and the cult of the individual endorsed by humanism. Copying the circular format, effigies in profile and scenes of ancient Roman coins, artists glorified their subjects on portable, easily reproducible objects that would stand the test of time, thus turning medals into a perfect propaganda tool.
The person portrayed on this medal, who also commissioned it, is the 3rd Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti (1392–1447). Despite his stormy character and delicate health, he was nevertheless a clever politician and military strategist. He is therefore represented on the reverse as one of the three armoured riders wielding lances in a battle or tournament scene, with a naked woman presiding over a city gate in the background. The famous medallist Antonio Pisano, aka “Pisanello”, who established the medal as a new art form, undoubtedly created this piece to please his patron, a man afflicted by rickets who required a cane to walk.