An exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Bologna on the iconographies of Christmas in coins and medals

Medagliere reveals itself. Christmas in nummis. Iconographies of Christmas in the Archaeological Museum’s Coins and Medals is the exhibition that, on the occasion of the Christmas holidays, the Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna’s Civic Museums Sector is dedicating to coins and medals depicting the episodes of the Nativity and the main evangelical and liturgical themes related to it. Curated by Paola Giovetti and Laura Marchesini and freely accessible in the museum’s atrium from Dec. 6, 2023 to Jan. 8, 2024, the exhibition will provide an opportunity to admire some 20 specimens that are part of the museum’s extremely rich numismatic collection.

This is the second focus of the Il Medagliere si rivela cycle, a project dedicated to introducing the general public to one of the most important numismatic collections in Italy. In fact, the Medagliere holds about 100,000 numismatic items from the beginnings of coinage (towards the end of the 7th century B.C.) to the euro, with important nuclei such as those of Italian mints and papal medals.

On the two days of Thursday, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14 at 4 p.m. there will be a meeting with Laura Marchesini, numismatist at the museum, who will focus on the most interesting aspects of the exhibits.

The exhibits cover a chronological span from the 13th to the 19th century. The selected coins were issued by different Italian mints (Bologna, Naples, Rome, Venice), while the engravers who made the medals include local artists such as Giovanni Bernardi of Castelbolognese (1496-1553), the famous Milanese Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1513 - post 1575), Nicola Cerbara (1796-1869), and the Germans Johann Buchheim (1624-1683) and Hans Reihart (1510-1581).

The reuse of coins as devotional objects is very frequent and can be seen even on coins depicting scenes of the Nativity, which are quite rare. The specimens were pierced becoming pendants, as evidenced by some of the specimens on display, where the figures of Mary, Joseph, and the Child are worn by the ritual and repetitive touch of the worshipper. This phenomenon is clearly visible in the 1519 silver Half Julius from the Pesaro mint, which is the first pontifical coin to be minted with a representation of the Nativity. Other episodes found on numismatic holdings were chosen to commemorate the infancy of Jesus, such as the Roman shield of Clement XI with the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, which the liturgical calendar celebrates on February 2, the day on which in 1703 a great earthquake devastated areas of Latium while sparing Rome.

An encomiastic object par excellence, the medal has repeatedly depicted this type of sacred scene as a reminder of important events that occurred precisely on the anniversaries of liturgical holidays, or as a memento of events related to its patrons. For example, to honor the writer Iacopo Sannazzaro, author of the work De partu Virginis (1526), which contemplates the mystery of the divine birth, a medal is cast that on the obverse bears the author’s portrait and on the reverse the Nativity. In 1571 Giovanni Antonio De Rossi produced a medal with theAdoration of the Magi for Pius V to celebrate the Battle of Lepanto, where the Christian fleet had been commended to Our Lady and whose victory was dedicated to Jesus.

TheAdoration of the Shepherds, on the other hand, is present in three examples, a gilded bronze medal by Giovanni Bernardi of Castelbolognese (1496-1553) made after 1547 with some verses from the Gospel of Luke recalling the episode; a 1560 medal executed by Giovanni Antonio De Rossi on commission from Pope Pius IV in commemoration of his election elected to the papal throne on December 25 the year before; and a medal by German Johann Buchheim (1624-1683) with a grandiose depiction of the arrival of the adoring shepherds against a detailed background of ruins.

Image: Silver head of the Rome mint under the pontificate of Gregory XIII (1572-1585); Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, inv. nos. 58375, 58374, 67437. On obverse: oval coat of arms of Gregory XIII. On the reverse: Mary and Joseph, both nimbled and genuflected in the act of prayer toward the Child lying on the ground; in the background, within a hut, the ox and donkey. Above, a group of three angels and a six-ray star. The legend LETAMINI GENTES (rejoice, O nations), (Rom 15:10; cites DT 32:43); in the exergue the indication of the mint of issue: ROMA.

An exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Bologna on the iconographies of Christmas in coins and medals

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