Fra Alberto Belli, died 1482 [obverse]

Art Historical Context

This bronze medal, created around 1497 in the style of the Florentine sculptor Niccolò Fiorentino, commemorates Fra Alberto Belli, a figure who had passed away fifteen years earlier. Fiorentino was among the leading Renaissance medalists, celebrated for capturing the likenesses of prominent individuals in durable, portable form. Measuring just over two inches in diameter, the obverse likely bears a profile portrait, a format that allowed the work to serve both as a personal memento and a statement of cultural prestige. During the late fifteenth century, bronze medals emerged as an important a...

About the Artist

Style of Niccolò Fiorentino

"Style of Niccolò Fiorentino" refers to the distinctive manner of bronze portrait medals produced by the workshop, circle, or close followers of the Florentine medallist Niccolò di Forzore Spinelli (1430–1514), known as Niccolò Fiorentino. Born into a prominent family of Florentine goldsmiths, Spinelli—great-nephew of the painter Spinello Aretino—emerged as one of the leading figures in the burgeo...