Coins in art

[Figleaf]

An allegory on gratefulness. The winged youngster standing in an egg may represent irresponsible youth. He may be offering the empty, broken egg shell to the rich man. The rich man is surrounded by wealth, symbolized by bags of money and a locked, heavy case, and refuses the offer.

Jan Ewoutsz. Muller, around 1542-1546, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Peter

[Figleaf]

According to Ovid, king Argos received a prediction that he would be killed by his grandson. Therefore, he locked up his only child, Danae in a huge tower. However, Zeus, always the philanderer, found the maiden and entered the tower as a rain of gold. The scene has inspired several painters. Rembrandt shows the dramatic entry of Zeus as bundles of light. Tintoretto (1580, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon) used coins instead. As comic relief, there's a maid catching the coins in her apron, but it's too late. Zeus is already on Danae's lap

Peter

[Figleaf]

Atelier of Quentin Matsys, undated (1466-1530), private collection

This painting was auctioned by Christie. Thanks to the enlargement feature on Christies site, you can have a good look at the coins. The scene is a tax office. A man has emptied his coin purse (in his left hand), but the tax inspectors are not satisfied. One grins self satisfied. He knows he'll get more. The other has curled down the corner of his mouth. He is about to give the man on the right a good scolding.

Christies catalogue (Sale 7743, 7 July 2009) says:

We are grateful to Mr. Roberto Russo of Numismatica Ars Classica for identifying the coins, which include several gold nobles, probably English and from the period 1327-1553 (Edward III to Edward VI), shown both in observe and in reverse; several English gold Angels (also called angel-nobles) from the period 1399-1547 (Henry IV to Henry VIII); what may be a silver groat of Henry VI (reigned 1422-1471); a silver testone of Ercole d'Este of Ferrara (reigned 1471-1505); and several gold dos excelentes in the name of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, probably struck in the Netherlands during the reign of Charles V (reigned 1516-1556).

Peter

[Destrans]

I really like this topic 
Here is my contribution from Portuguese Art

Livro de Horas de D. João III


Crónica de D. João I de Fernão Lopes


«Fac-simile» da iluminura da Adoração dos Magos do Livro de Horas deD. João III


Livro dos Ofícios Pontifícios da Inquisição

[squarecoinman]

When i dont collect coins , write books or travel I sometimes paint , it is not coins , but it is still money the title is China dream
it is a oil painting I made

squarecoinman

[Figleaf]

Neat, scm. Are you married to a Chinese?

Peter

[Abhay]

Though not exactly an art, but in India, particularly at the time of Diwali, you can find many posters of Goddess Laxmi, showering Gold Coins.

Abhay

[squarecoinman]

Neat, scm. Are you married to a Chinese?

Peter

yes i am

scm

[Figleaf]

The parable of the lost coin is a biblical story.

Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn't light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.'

— Luke 15:8–10

The morality play is illustrated by Jan Luyken, who creates a fashionable Italian scenery with the drachma - not more than a round slice, is almost in the centre, as a counterpoint to the happy faces of the owner and her neighbours, with the broom and candle in the background.

Illustration: "Teachings of Jesus 13 of 40. parable of the lost drachma. Jan Luyken etching. Bowyer Bible" by Phillip Medhurst - Photo by Harry Kossuth. Licensed under FAL via Wikimedia Commons

Peter

[Figleaf]

Here is another Danae (see reply #16), this one by Orazia Gentileschi. Here, it's not a maid, but Cupid who helps catch the coins. The painting is in the news because it will be auctioned next January. No need for a coin collector to buy it. The gold coins are too indistinct to be identified

Peter

[Figleaf]

Separation between state and church is a basic tenet of Christianity. Here is a 1560s painting by Titian (National gallery, London) illustrating the text on which it rests (Matthew 22:15-22): Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.

The coin is not centre stage. That role is given to the look and attitude of Jesus and the man holding the coin. Yet, the coin has a role by itself. There is quite a bit of speculation on which coin it was. The text calls it a denarion and it is traditionally taken for a denarius of Tiberius. However, Titian painted a gold coin. One thing is certain. A penny it is not.

Peter

[Figleaf]

More yet on taxes. Now it's on paying tax to the church and the advice is to do it as not to give offense (Matthew 17:24-27.)

After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes, he does," he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. "What do you think, Simon?" he asked. "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes—from their own children or from others?" "From others," Peter answered. "Then the children are exempt," Jesus said to him. "But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours."

The illustration comes from Augustin Tünger's (around 1455-1486) Facetiae Latinae et Germanicae, Konstanz 1486, (Württembergischen Landesbibliothek Stuttgart). Less than 200 years separate this illustration from the one above, but this one is still completely medieval: without regard to scale and depth and respecting traditional symbolism. While the text speaks of one coin, a tetradrachme for two persons, in the illustration, Peter offers two coins in payment, both with a cross, like so many medieval coins.

Peter

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=608276

[chrisild]

St. Peter, Fish, Coin ... reminds of another famous painting that also tells this story: Masaccio's "Pagamento del Tributo" from the mid-1420s. Fish on the left, tax collector on the right.


An article with larger images is here (Wikipedia).

Until about a month ago, by the way, the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (BW, DE) had an exhibition about money in art: "Money. Good and evil." (en - de). Wanted to go there but, errm, procrastination took its toll.

Christian

[Pellinore]

This painting I saw at the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht, last March. It was made by Joos van Craesbeeck (1605-1661), a painter from the Southern Netherlands.
It was called 'Old man counting money' but to me it looks like a collector admiring a coin.
-- Paul

[Figleaf]

Nice addition and good point, Pellinore. That's not how you count, that's an investigation. Since there is a pile of coppers on the desk (?), the man might be worried about the silver content of the large coin, rather than trying to discern design details, though.

Peter