Author: Palazzi, Giovanni, b. 1640?
Image Title: Portrait and Medals of Nicolo Contarini
Description: A portrait of Venetian Doge Nicolo Contarini (1553-1631), who reigned from 1630 to 1631. Contarini was a lifelong crusader for Venice’s autonomy from the church. The upper medal, Contarini’s 1630 osella, depicts him kneeling in two scenes: humbly accepting the banner of the Venetian Republic from the seated Saint Mark, and kneeling doffing his cap before Mary and the child Jesus, who rest atop a temple. The mintmaster, Urbano Malipiero, has his initials engraved at the bottom of the obverse. The lower coin commemorates the start of Venice’s construction of the Basilica di Santi Maria della Sanute. The left coin face shows the Doge pointing to the church (which was not completed until 1687), while the right coin face shows the Holy Spirit descending upon Mary in the form of a bird against the background of Venice’s Piazzetta. The legends relay the church’s story “Nicolao Contar. Senatvs ex voto” and “Vnde origo inde salvs” (“Hence the origin of our salvation“).
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