Triton XX, Lot: 1244. Estimate $7500. Sold for $7750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Ferrara (ducato). Alfonso II d'Este . 1559-1597. AR Quarto – Testone (29mm, 9.76 g, 4h). Struck circa 1509-1522. Armored bust left / Samson seated left on curule chair, holding lion mask from which a swarm of six bees flies forth; serpent-entwined stump to left. MIR 271; Bellesia, Ferrara 10/D. EF, toned.

Alfonso I d’Este was a true Renaissance prince. Shortly after he became duke, he uncovered a plot against him that involved two of his brothers. Tried for high treason, they were convicted and sentenced to be executed. However, Alfonso commuted their sentences to life imprisonment.

During the Italian Wars, Alfonso maintained a delicate balance between the warring factions, while strengthening Ferrara’s fortifications against attack. Joining the League of Cambrai, he sided with the French against Pope Julius II. For this, Alfonso was excommunicated and relieved of his territories, which now became part of the Papal States. Alfonso was not to be undone, using Ferrara’s superior artillery made from fragments of Michelangelo’s equestrian statue of Julius, he assisted in several significant victories against the Pope, and the emperor Charles V subsequently rewarded Alfonso’s assistance with the restoration of his lands.

Alfonso was also a patron of the arts. He patronized Giovanni Bellini and Titian, who painted for him several works, including a portrait of the Duke leaning on one of his cannons. In 1529, Alfonso built a magnificent art gallery. Known as the Camerino, this white marble-veneered chamber with gilded ceiling housed his impressive collection.

Alfonso was married twice. His first wife, Anna, was the sister of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, and the niece of Alfonso’s own sister, Beatrice. After Anna’s death in childbirth, Alfonso married Lucrezia Borgia, the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and sister of Cesare Borgia, and whose name became a by-word for Renaissance ruthlesness.