renaissance medal, Maria of Austria

Jacopo Nizzola da Trezzo (1519-1589)
MARIA OF AUSTRIA (1528-1603)
Ca. 1552
Copper alloy, cast ;65.3 cm

Obverse : Maria, with long hair in veiled coif and dressed with a diadem and pearls, wearing a collared dress, earrings, and a necklace. Inscription : MARIA AVSTR(iaca) REG(ina) BOEM(iae) CAROLI V IMP(eratoris) F(ilia) (Maria of Austria, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of the Emperor Charles V)

Reverse: A draped woman, holding three branches in her right hand and a crown in her left, tramples upon trophies of war belw. Inscription : CONSOCIATO RERVM DOMINA (Union, mistress of things)


In 1548, Maria of Austria, the daughter of Charles V, married her cousin, the future king of Bohemia (from 1549) and Emperor Maximilian II (from 1564). This medal likely commemorates the union of the two branches of the imperial family through Maria’s marriage. The figure of the reverse maybe derived from a roman model like Maidens decorating a candelabrum (1st BC-1st AD, Louvre, Paris). The reverse relief was formerly attributed to both Pompeo and Leone Leoni; however, the medal type is more commensurate with the oeuvre of Jacopo da Trezzo (Attwood 2003, n° 76).