Pope Alexander VII (obverse), and the Piazzo del Popolo (reverse) / Gioacchino Travani

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Record Details

Accession Number
1984/1.282
Title
Pope Alexander VII (obverse), and the Piazzo del Popolo (reverse)
Artist Nationality
Italian
Artist Life Dates
Active 1634-1674
Medium and Support
bronze
Object Creation Date
1662
Object Creation Place
Europe (continent)
Italy (nation)
Lazio (region)
Roma (province)
Rome (inhabited place)
Creation Place 1
Europe (continent)
Creation Place 2
Italy (nation)
Creation Place 3
Lazio (region)
Creation Place 4
Roma (province)
Creation Place 5
Rome (inhabited place)
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Style/Group/Movement
Baroque
Inscription
Obverse: Alex. VII Pont Max A. VIII; 1662 below truncation Reverse: Sapientia in Plateis Dat Vocem Suam; MDCLXII in esargue
Dimensions
2 cm x 6.3 cm x 6.3 cm (13/16 in. x 2 1/2 in. x 2 1/2 in.)
Primary Object Classification
Metalwork
Primary Object Type
coin
Physical Description
The front (obverse) of this medal represents a portrait of a man in profile wearing a papal tiara and a cope. The reverse depicts a city square dominated by an obelisk with a pair of identical domed churches in the background. Inscriptions run around the edge of the medal on both sides.
Subject Matter
A portrait of Alexander VII wearing the papal tiara graces the front of this medal. On the reverse appears the renovated Piazza del Popolo in Rome, a civic works project initiated by Alexander VII. The piazza owed its importance to the three streets that led from the square into the heart of the city. The medal anticipates the piazza’s appearance after the renovation by placing two domed churches in the middle ground with the three streets receding dramatically into the distance. The artist reinforced the symmetry of the paired churches by arranging the scene around a central obelisk, thereby heightening the sense of rational order and breathtaking grandeur imposed by the pope’s will upon the urban fabric.
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Technical Details

Image Size
633 x 613
File Size
33 KB
Record
1984/1.282
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1984-sl-1.282/1984_1.282obv.jpg

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1984-SL-1.282:1984_1.282OBV.JPG

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Full citation
"Pope Alexander VII (obverse), and the Piazzo del Popolo (reverse); Gioacchino Travani." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1984-sl-1.282/1984_1.282obv.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.
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