Medal of Pope Alexander VI Obverse

Over the 15th century, from the moment Pisanello created the first medals for the Gonzagas in Mantua, the Italian courts embraced this new art in swift succession. Popes and church dignitaries were not oblivious to the trend and, as the Renaissance princes they were, soon grasped the potential of this new medium as a means of displaying their power and personal merits.
For instance, on this piece the Borgia pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) portrayed himself with the attributes of papal dignity on the obverse and chose a highly symbolic image for the reverse, as one of the pillars of his papacy was his interest in the urban renewal of Rome and in military architecture. This model commemorates the remodelling of Castel Sant’Angelo, the former mausoleum of Hadrian, carried out by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder between 1492 and 1495 to turn it into an impregnable yet lavish fortress. The legend accompanying the detailed image of the castle and its bridge also refers to these works.