Horses
USA - Delaware State Quarter


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description: 5000L 1995R BIRTH OF PISANELLO
Grade: NGC MS 67
Owner: brg5658
 
Set Category: Thematic & Topical Coins
Set Name: Horses
Slot Name: USA - Delaware State Quarter
Research: See NGC's Census Report for this Coin

Owner's Description

Purchased on 8/10/2012. This coin was minted in 1995 by Italy to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the birth of Pisanello. It was minted in a quantity of 38,000 pieces business strike (the coin pictured here), and also in 7,800 pieces proof strike. Pisanello (born c. 1395 – died c. 1455), known professionally as Antonio di Puccio Pisano or Antonio di Puccio da Cereto, was one of the most distinguished painters of the early Italian Renaissance and Quattrocento. Pisanello is known for his frescoes in large murals, elegant portraits, small easel pictures, and many brilliant drawings. Interestingly, he is also the most important commemorative portrait medalist in the first half of the 15th century. Popular in the courts of his day, Pisanello was the inventor of the personal commemorative medal, a medal portraying important figures of the day that became very popular during the Renaissance. These medals have become very useful for historians today, allowing them a glimpse at some of the era’s most important civic figures. Few of his paintings exist, solidifying his modern reputation as primarily a portraiture medalist. The obverse of the coin features a design reworked from the medal designed by Pisanello's contemporary medalist Antonio Marescotti around 1443. The text reads "Pisanello Painter". Interestingly, this design is also very similar to the medal design of Pisanello himself of Niccolò Piccinino in 1441. Piccinino (1386 – 15 October 1444) was a military leader and contemporary of Pisanello. The reverse of the coin features a design taken from the medal of Lodovico Gonzaga designed and produced by Pisanello in 1445. Lodovico II of Gonzaga, (born June 5, 1412 – died June 12, 1478) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1444 to his death in 1478. Of note, this reverse image is also very similar to the equestrian image of Pisanello's famous painting entitled "Visione di sant'Eustachio" (the vision of Saint Eustace; painted circa 1440). As is described in Wikipedia, the painting "depicts Saint Eustace before a stag, between the antlers of which is a crucifix, as described in the Golden Legend." See the accompanying cropped image of the horse from Pisanello's painting.

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