Portrait and Medals of Domenico Contarini II
Author: Palazzi, Giovanni, b. 1640?
Image Title: Portrait and Medals of Domenico Contarini II
Description: A portrait of Venetian Doge Domenico Contarini II (1585-1675), who reigned from 1659 to 1675. Contarini’s coat of arms is divided quarterly: the top-left and bottom-right quarters can three fleurs-de-lis and the others contain left-to-right diagonal stripes. The left medal faces on this page depict the Doge receiving the banner of the Venetian Republic from the seated Saint Mark. These faces are the obverses of osellas commemorating the first, third, and tenth years of Contarini’s reign. Their counterparts on the right side of the page are the reverses of the respective osellas. The topmost reverse portrays Justice, a crowned female figure, holding a balance in her left hand and a sword in her right, while two lions rest at her feet. The circumscribing legend reads “Opvs ivstitiae pax” (“Peace is the work of justice.”). The center reverse shows the winged male figure Justice (left) extending a lilied branch to Peace (right) who holds an olive branch in her free hand. Its legend reads “Volvnt hoc pignore ivngi.” The bottom reverse displays the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus at the center of an eight-pointed star. The legend reads “Sit tvta hoc sidere creta.” Mintmasters Marc Aurelio Soranzo, Tommaso Barbarigo, and Lorenzo Pisani have their initials placed at the bottom of their obverses.
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