210, Lot: 377. Estimate $150. Sold for $220. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Papal Medals. Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni). 1572-1585. Æ Medal (37mm, 27.47 g, 12h). Lorenzo Fragni, engraver. GREGORIVS XIII · PONT · OPT · MAXIMVS, bust right, wearing mantum / GREGORIANA · D · NA-ZI · ANZENO · DICATA (Z’s retrograde), view of the interior of the Gregorian chapel in the Vatican. Mazio 121; Lincoln 679. EF.

From the Luparello Collection.

Best known for his reformation of the Gregorian calendar, Pope Gregory XIII sought wide reform for the Church itself. The Index of Forbidden Books was updated and the Consistories were abolished and replaced with the College of Cardinals. In order to raise money for his many public and cultural improvements, he confiscated many properties, alienating many of the gentry and noble families and plunged the papal states into near-anarchy until his death.