Gian Giacomo Trivulzio
Inscription
Bronze, 45.7 x 44.9 mm
Cristoforo Foppa Caradosso, c. 1499.
Obverse: Laureate bust of Trivulzio facing left, wearing armor plate. Shield with the Trivulzio arms in top left corner; a cross pattée within a flaming circle in the top right corner; a shield with a biscione in the bottom left corner; a shield with three brands in a pale, each with two buckets, in the bottom right corner. Around, within incised circles, IO IACOBVS TRIVVLS · MAR · VIG · FRA · MARESCALVS · (Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, Marquess of Vigevano, Marshal of France).
Reverse: Nine line inscription, below which is a leaf: 1499 / EXPVGNATA ALE / XANDRIA : DELETO / EXERCITV : LVDOVI / CVM · SF · MLI · DVC / EXPELLIT · REVER / SVM · APVD NOVA / RIAM STERNIT / CAPIT (1499, Having Taken Alexandria, Having Destroyed the Army, He Expelled Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Lodovico Fleeing was Defeated and Captured Near Novara).
Gian Giacomo Trivulzio was born in Milan in 1440 or 1441. A supporter of France, he led an army raised by King Louis XII to conquer the Duchy of Milan in 1499. After his victory, Trivulzio was appointed governor of Milan by Louis XII, as well as marquess of Vigevano and marshal of France. Ludovico Sforza, who had been Duke of Milan, had fled but was captured at Novara and died captive in a French dungeon. Trivulzio continued to lead French forces, but later lost the favor of the king and died in France in 1518.
Provenance:
ArtCoins Roma 7, 20-21 May 2013, lot 1636.