|
WESTERN EUROPE. Cast “Æ Medal” (174mm, 473.50 g, 12h). Dated 1497 or 1503 (in Roman numerals), but a later production. Laureate male bust right; · VMILITAS ·/τΑωύροςις (sic) in two lines below; Hebrew inscription in two lines around; Hebrew acrostic noting Benjamin, son of the papal physician Elijah ben Shabbetai Be’er, across fields / POST TENEBRA SPERO LVCEM FELICITATIS IVDEX DIES VLTIMVS • D • III • M, incuse of obverse bust. Armand II 142, 16; Hill 878; Stern 211; Friedenberg, p. 73; Peus 412, lot 759. Brown surfaces, worn at high points, fields smoothed, edge marks, possible mount or sprue removed at 12 o’clock. As made. An enigmatic and historically important piece.
Since the discovery of the original example in Lyon in 1656, from which all subsequent copies – including this example – were cast, a number of conflicting opinions have arisen over its purpose and meaning. While this medal has clear Judaic connections, the association of it with Pope Julius II and his end of the persecution of Jews by the papacy is based on circumstantial evidence and subjective reasoning, and should be questioned. Dr. Rebekka Voß, Frankfurt Professor of the History of German and European Jewry at Goethe University, who translated the blundered and defective Hebrew legend for the Peus specimen, has argued that the medal is connected with Jewish Messianic expectation at the turn of the 16th century. It appears to have an association with Ascherben Meir Lemlein, a northern Italian rabbi, kaballist, and alleged harbinger of the Jewish Messiah. Elijah ben Shabbetai Be’er, whose name appears in acrostic, was a well-known physician who served popes, Italian nobility, as well as Henry IV of England. A teacher of medicine at the University of Pavia, he was awarded for his services a knighthood and Roman citizenship in 1405. His son, Benjamin, may be the portrait here, referencing his possible connection to the messianic association. For more information on Jewish Messianism, see Rebekka Voß, Umstrittene Erlöser Politik. Ideologie und jüdisch-christlicher Messianismus in Deutschland, 1500-1600 (Göttingen, 2011).
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 129 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 13-14 May 2025. This lot is in Session Three, which will begin 14 May at 9 AM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.
|
