Lot 122: [ ITALIAN MEDALS ]

LEONE LEONI (c. 1509-1590) Andrea Doria (1466-1560), Genoese admiral and statesman, bronze medal, c. 1541, ANDREAS DORIA, bust of Andrea Doria as Neptune, with trident at shoulder, rev., galley rowed to right; in the sea below, two men (probably Doria and Leoni) in a rowing boat; from a rock, a fisherman casts his line, 42.5mm (Attwood 5; Armand I, 164, 9; Pollard 490= Kress 431; Bargello 712), a very fine contemporary cast, brown patina

This and the following medal were made on Leoni's release from the Papal galleys to which he had been condemned for his murderous attack on the Pope's jeweller Pellegrino de Leuti. His release came about through the intercession of Andrea Doria. For Leoni's plaquette which relates to these medals see lot 19.