Portrait medal of Dido, Queen of Carthage (obverse); A View of Carthage (reverse)
ca. 1550
Medium
Bronze (Copper alloy with light brown patina).
Dimensions
Diam. 4.2 cm, wt. 33.95 g.
Classification
Medals
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.1268
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite bronze portrait medal, crafted Italian artist Alessandro Cesati around 1550, celebrates Dido, the legendary Queen Carthage from Virgil's *eneid*. The ob features a finely detailed profile portrait of D, rendered with classical elegance while the reverse depicts a view of ancient Carthage, her fabled. Measuring just 4.2 cm diameter and weighing nearly 34 grams, this-alloy piece boasts a light brown pat that enhances its antique allure now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Robert Lehman Collection. Renaissance medals like this one prized collectibles among Europe's elite...