Pisanello (Antonio Pisano) (Italian, Pisa or Verona by 1395–1455), Portrait medal of Don Inigo d'Avalos (obverse); Sphere Representing Earth, Sea, and Sky (reverse), ca. 1449–50. Bronze (copper alloy with warm brown patina under a worn layer of black wax). Diam. 7.9 cm, wt. 161.43 g., Robert Lehman Collection, 1975; 1975.1.1301 © 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Active in Verona and the Italian courts, the celebrated master Pisanello left behind a significant legacy, including a large corpus of drawings and several paintings. He was also the inventor of the commemorative portrait medal. Inspired by Roman coins, with their portraits of rulers and allegorical representations on the reverse, the medals commemorated individuals or events and functioned as gifts and mementoes.  

Pisanello’s medal of Don Inigo d'Avalos, grand chamberlain and military general to Alfonso V of Naples, depicts the sitter wearing a fur-trimmed robe and a hat composed of a rolled hood (cappuccio) and long draped portion. This masterful portrait medal captures his youthful self-confidence. The simple inscription is parenthetical to delicate variations in low relief, which harmonize with rhythmic folds of fabric in higher relief and the strong horizontal volume of the subject’s hat.