Portrait and Medals of Francesco Molin
Author: Palazzi, Giovanni, b. 1640?
Image Title: Portrait and Medals of Francesco Molin
Scripture Reference:
- Psalms 27 (further images / scripture text)
- Exodus 14 (further images / scripture text)
Description: A portrait of Venetian Doge Francesco Molin (1575-1654), who reigned from 1646 to 1654. His coat of arms features a wheel. The topmost pair of coins, Molin’s 1646 osella, depicts on the obverse the Doge humbly accepting the banner of the Republic from the enthroned Saint Mark. The mintmaster, Giovanni Alvise Battaglia, has his Latin initials engraved below. The reverse, bearing the legend “Fvlget inter flvctvs,” features a galley and a brilliant flame appearing above it. The next four osellas feature variations on the theme of the first: the 1647 osella features the same galley, its rowers washed in waves; the third changes the legend to “Dns. illvminatio: in hoc sperabo” (“The Lord is my light: In this I will trust”); the fourth changes it to “Perstat lvmen qvia nvmen” (“The light endures by the Lord’s will”); the fifth to “Dvx. dvm. lvx.” (“I prevail as long as there is light”). The reverse of the 1651 osella features the legend “Svpero fervente fovente” (“By the aid of that which burns above”) and the image of a giant mirror reflecting the sun’s rays and burning a Turkish fleet. The 1652 osella (the two faces linked at the page’s bottom left) add to the familiar banner-passing scene the image of Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), who holds a branch of lilies and stands behind Saint Mark’s seat. The legend “Germinavit lilivm florebit aeterno. Fr. Mol. D. S.M.V.” honors Venice’s recent adopting of Saint Anthony as a patron saint. On the reverse, Moses, with a sword in hand, looks up to see a heavenly hand parting the Red Sea, allowing the Hebrews to escape Egyptian persecution. The mintmaster, Zan Antonio Semitecolo, has his initials engraved at the bottom of the obverse. The 1653 osella reverse portrays the sun, which has a face, directing its rays at the ground in front of a church, where a fire has sprung. The 1654 osella, much simpler than previous editions, features a flame.
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