Coins in art

[Figleaf]

The picture is from the world's first encyclopedia, compiled by Diderot and d'Alembert. The original is not coloured. The engraving is not signed. It was probably done by Robert Bénard. For more pictures from the Encyclopédie see this thread.

Peter

[brandm24]

The picture is from the world's first encyclopedia, compiled by Diderot and d'Alembert. The original is not coloured. The engraving is not signed. It was probably done by Robert Bénard. For more pictures from the Encyclopédie see this thread.

Peter

I had a feeling someone would know something about the picture. Amazing the intelligence of the members of the forum. Thank you much.

Bruce

[Pellinore]

This morning I found an interesting article on Academia.edu (in English) about the Quentin Matsys painting that was presented at the start of this thread, taken from the Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 1915. It was written by Joanna Woodall, and the title is 'De wisselaer. Quentin Matsys's Man weighing gold coins and his wife, 1514'. It's more than 35 pages and counts 105 footnotes. Some interesting remarks were added by readers.

The article also touches the identity of some of the coins, a.o. a gold écu of Louis XII of France, but interestingly also a Sicilian augustale of Frederick II Hohenstaufen (about 1230).

If you want to study the painting, here on Wikipedia is an enlargeable picture. In the little detail I cut out here, the augustale is the farthest coin on the right.

-- Paul

[Manzikert]

With regard to the man in the pit in the engraving on reply 74, I believe there is a comment in Isaac Newton's papers from his time as Master of the Royal Mint to the effect that  many of the workers were missing the tips of their fingers!

Alan

[WillieBoyd2]

The France Marianne-Rooster coin appeared on a French World War One poster.


France 20 francs 1912 Marianne-Rooster


French World War One poster with coin

The poster shows a French gold coin attacking a German soldier.
It was designed by Abel Faivre in 1915 and reads:
"Pour la France VERSEZ VOTRE OR" (For France, donate your gold)
"L'Or Combat Pour La Victoire" (The gold fights for Victory)

A work of art becomes part of another work of art.

[brandm24]

With regard to the man in the pit in the engraving on reply 74, I believe there is a comment in Isaac Newton's papers from his time as Master of the Royal Mint to the effect that  many of the workers were missing the tips of their fingers!

Alan

Both fingers and hands, Alan. Don't recall where I read that though.

Bruce

[Figleaf]

Portuguese is unlikely. The bars at the end of the arms of the cross were either much larger and triangular or absent on Portuguese gold of this time. Also, Portuguese gold was not an international currency, so it would not often have been around in 17th century Leiden.

WRONG, Figleaf! I got the correct answer researching another story. The coin is a Portuguese gold cruzado, first issued in 1457, so much older than the painting. In its heyday, the Cruzado was an international trading coin. The cross is not the Portuguese cross, but the crusader's cross.

A more romantic way for the coin to end up in Leiden is that the Portuguese claimant to the throne, Sebastian I, held court in the Netherlands for a few years. He was quite welcome, as he was an enemy of Philip II of Spain. Philip had merged Portugal into his empire and was still trying to do the same with the Netherlands. Even more important, Sabastian had money to spend. His booty could well have contained gold cruzados and he would have been a buyer of Dutch art. Not that it's relevant here, but coins in Sebastian's name as well as imitations of Dutch and French coins were struck in the Netherlands.

Peter

[chrisild]

Mostly unrelated side note – a very similar coin was issued just very few centuries later. A "português" (10 cruzados) from around 1500 (Manuel I) but minted ten years ago. Same cross ...

Christian

[Figleaf]

I am afraid the story in the ad is mostly commercial hot air. Don Manual I indeed had gold 10 cruzado coins minted. Gomes lists eight sub-types, none of which are exactly like the copy shown. The pricing in Gomes is a clear indication that the coins were produced in small quantities only: they are priced at €50 000 (Gomes 4th edition).

The story in the ad applies to the cruzado of 300 reis in Manuel's reign. Gomes lists 11 types and 16 sub-types, priced from €1500 to €5000. The latter coin was an internationally accepted means of payment in trade and diplomacy. It is likely to have surfaced in Leiden.

As noted above, it was first struck in 1457. I am not sure when they were last struck. They were possibly demonetised in the coinage reform of 1555 as Sebastian's own gold working horse coin is the escudo of 500 reis, based on the coinage law of 1560. Sebastian got chucked out in 1580. He ended up in the Netherlands a few years later. Lievens (1607-1674) would not have met him in person.

Peter

[chrisild]

I am afraid the story in the ad is mostly commercial hot air.

Not surprising, as this is a piece from a series of collector coins that "imitate" (or rather: are inspired) by historical examples.   I had merely noticed your comment regarding the cross, and was reminded of this modern piece ...

Christian

[radars_teddy]

https://museumcrush.org/doug-fishbone-on-jews-and-money-at-the-jewish-museum/

[radars_teddy]

.

[Figleaf]

Portrait of a Collector (about 1523), by Parmigianino (1503 - 1540). The National Gallery, London. Their description, slightly shortened.

An unknown collector is seated at a table, wearing a large black fur-lined coat and black hat. Parmigianino has painted out the original top contour of the hat to make it smaller – the original shape can still be seen through the overpaint. The man appears to be sitting in front of an open window through which a dark cloudy sky and brightly lit copse of trees can be seen. The main light source is from the front, but there is also light coming from the horizon casting an almost supernaturally bright golden glow on the relief sculpture and the leaves of the trees.

The sitter has an unusual expression, almost a sneer – his nostrils are flared, his lips pursed and forehead lined. His eyes do not fix on us but appear to be watching something slightly to our left. He is shown holding the so-called Durazzo Book of Hours by Francesco Marmitta, created about 20 years earlier (now in the Biblioteca Civica Berio, Genoa). Parmigianino has accurately represented the book's elaborately tooled metal cover, with red stones on the metal clasps. A broken fragment of a pseudo-antique relief of Venus and Cupid with Mars stands in the background. The 'antique' figures are constructed in Parmigianino's own sinuous style.

The sitter's right hand lies on the inlaid wooden table, on which rests a bronze statuette of a woman. She holds a baton or possibly a dagger which she points towards her abdomen. She may represent the Roman heroine Lucretia who stabbed herself to defend her honour. The bronze statuette was painted on top of the inlay on the table and the marquetry stripe now shows through the paint, which has become transparent with age. The antique objects surrounding the man reveal his tastes, while the Breviary in his hand attests to his faith.

Beside the statuette lie four ancient coins. There was considerable interest in ancient coins among collectors in Parma at this time. Three of the coins are bronze sestertii, but the third is made of silver. It is the depiction of a real coin – a denarius struck in Rome in 56 BC bearing the head of Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome (reigned 642–617 BC).

Peter

[Figleaf]

Mrs Robert Hollond, by Arij Scheffer (1795 - 1858), The National Gallery, London.

Mrs Hollond (1822–1884), born Ellen Julia Teed, was the wife of the pioneering balloonist and MP Robert Hollond. She was a writer and philanthropist who lived for part of each year in Paris, where she held a salon that attracted intellectuals of a progressive cast of mind. She was also a well-known traveller and philanthropist who founded the first crèche in London and English nurses' homes in Paris and Nice.

Arij Scheffer was a painter who appealed to Mrs Hollond and her circle. In 1851, when Scheffer painted this formidable woman's portrait, he did not emphasise her status as a society figure – she could equally well be a Roman matron or a figure from the Bible.  She looks sideways out of the picture with a soulful and poetic expression. The colour scheme is restrained, dominated by blue, pink and white. Scheffer aimed for and achieved a composition of eloquent simplicity in which Mrs Holland is depicted as a woman of feeling. The intimacy of the portrait suggests that this was a private commission.

Mrs Hollond is presented with studied simplicity – colours, setting, distracting clothing and jewellery are kept to a minimum to stress the soulfulness of her expression. She is posed outdoors under a clear blue sky, wearing a classicising gown and robe, with no jewellery other than a gold-coin bracelet.

I added a close-up of the bracelet, a bit of an outlier in a portrait otherwise pared down to essentials. As it is prominently shown, it was likely a favourite, perhaps a gift from a person she cared a lot for. By its position, the bracelet is becoming a symbol of wealth. Yet, it is made of gold coins, cheaper than an original design, so it also shows a degree of restraint.

I have included a close-up of the bracelet. There is not enough detail for me to identify the coins. All I can say is that they are likely all the same and French or British.

Peter

[Pellinore]

Those two last pictures are very fascinating. Parmigianino with his sneer and Arij Scheffer with the etherical woman! Both very unusual subjects / depictions.
-- Paul