Girolamo da Faenza

Religion with Mary Magdalene and St. John

Bronze, 43.4mm Ø, 36.9 g
c. 1511.
Obverse:  Bust of Girolamo da Faenza facing right, wearing habit and cappuccio. Around, M · HIERO · FAVENT · PRECO · ET · LVCERNA · FIDEI · ([?] Girolamo of Faenza, Herald and Lamp of Faith).
Reverse:  Personification of Religion standing facing and holding a torch in her right hand. To the left, Mary Magdalene holding a chalice and to the right St. John standing with hands together in prayer. Around, HEC · VIA · AMBVLATE · IN · EA (This Is the Way, Walk Ye In It).

This medal is possibly unique and is lacking from all major references except one. Toderi and Vannel assign the medal to the years of c. 1513-1516 and identify the subject only as Girolamo da Faenza, no doubt based on the obverse inscription. No background about this person is provided, and the authors lament that no further information regarding his identity is available which could aid in the attribution of the medal to a particular artist. It is possible that the subject is Girolamo di Gianfrancesco Armellini da Faenza, an inquisitor and member of the Dominican order. He was ordained a priest roughly in mid-1494 and at some point after his studies was appointed vicar to the inquisitor of Mantua, Domenico Pirri da Gargnano. He served in this role until roughly 1518, except for a break for the academic year of 1512-1513, when he was appointed as master of studies in Bologna. He was then inquisitor of Parma from 1518-1526 and inquisitor of Mantua from 1531-1540. He is last recorded as theological lector in the convent of Sant'Andrea in Faenza in 1549-1550.

The identification of the subject as the inquisitor Girolamo di Gianfrancesco Armellini da Faenza (or inquisitorial vicar, as he would have been at the time of Toderi and Vannel's dating of the medal) fits with the portrait depiction on the obverse, showing a man in friar's clothing. The obverse inscription, ignoring the leading "M", would seem to fit a person who is in the inquisitorial business.

The reverse inscription similarly fits the proposed subject and comes from Isaiah 30:21; "Et aures tuae audient verbum post tergum monentis: Haec est via; ambulate in ea, et non declinetis neque ad dexteram, neque ad sinistram." (And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: This is the way, walk ye in it: and go not aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left.)

Toderi and Vannel attribute this medal, with reservations, to Vittore di Antonio Gambello, called Camelio. This attribution is based upon comparison with the medals typically attributed to Camelio during his time in Rome. Born in Venice, Camelio is recorded in 1484 as being master of the dies for the Venetian mint. He left for Rome in 1510 after a reduction in his salary due to the financial crisis in Venice resulting from war. While in Rome, he was appointed for life as engraver to the papal mint on June 24, 1515. However, he returned to his post in Venice in 1516 and worked there until 1530. During Armellini's time as inquisitorial vicar of Mantua, he journeyed to Rome in 1511 to represent Pirri at a commission. This places him in Rome during the time in which Camelio was there, and could help to possibly date the medal to slightly earlier than the period posited by Toderi and Vannel.

Published:

Illustrated in Toderi and Vannel 2000, pl. 145, no. 612.

Provenance:

Morton & Eden 68, 10-11 June 2014, lot 566.

Sincona 6, 23-25 March 2012, lot 1719.

Astarte VIII, 11 October 2001, lot 110.

References:

Toderi and Vannel 2000, no. 612