Alexander VII (1655-67) Old Cast Bronze 74mm

Pope Alexander VII, The Piazza of St. Peter's in Rome, 1657 by Gaspare Morone. Obverse: draped bust of Alexander right, dated 1657 on truncation. Reverse: the Piazza San Pietro with the colonnades designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. An extremely fine old cast in extremely fine condition, with lots of architectural detail, 74mm. This was one of the foundation medals for the Piazza di S. Pietro. Bernini compared the enclosing colonnades to the maternal arms of the Church reaching out to embrace Catholics. The reverse of the medal was sketched out by the Pope himself with a note to his papal counselor Luca Holstenio concerning the inscription to be used. A smaller version of this medal, 71.96mm, sans the beaded border, sold for CHF 850.00 ($803.00) plus a 15% buyer's premium in 2008.