Lot 109: Maffeo Olivieri (born 1484, died after 1534) Altobello Averoldo, bronze medal, 94.5mm., a very fine contemporary cast, rich brown pa...

Maffeo Olivieri (born 1484, died after 1534)
Altobello Averoldo, bronze medal, 94.5mm., a very fine contemporary cast, rich brown patina, pierced at 12 o'clock

Obverse: bust of Averoldo in profile to right, wearing berretto and roccetto, ALTOBELLVS. AVEROLDVA. BRIXIEN. POLEN. EPS. VEN. LEGTS. APOST·

Reverse: Truth unveiled, a nude female (Truth) struggles in vain against two nude male figures who pull away her veil, .VERITATI. D. in exergue

Altobello Averoldo of Brescia (c.1465-1531), Bishop of Pola 1497, Papal Legate to Venice 1526

Max Resenheim (Burlington Fine Arts Club, Catalogue of Winter Exhibition 1910-1911, p.50), was the first to attribute this medal to Olivieri on the basis of the pair of signed candlesticks he made for Bishop Averoldo for presentation to St Mark's, Venice. The candlesticks, donated on Christmas Eve 1527, stand nearly two metres high, and were positioned at the entrance to the Sacramental Chapel.

The reverse, considered to be the finest of the Venetian series, possibly alludes to an incident that occurred in 1518 while Averoldo was Papal Legate at Venice. A ten year old girl was raped by a gang of men in Brescia, and Averoldo took up the cause on behalf of the girl's family. He single-handedly persuaded the Council of Ten to banish the men, adding that should the ringleader ever be caught again in Brescia, he would be brought before the girl's house and his right hand cut off. The judgement was posted on the Rialto Bridge, prompting a full day of celebrations in front of Averoldo's house.
A portrait of Bishop Averoldo, before he became Papal Legate, by Francesco Francia, was in the collection of Nathaniel Mayer von Rothschild in Vienna and is now in the Kress collection in Washington.


References
Armand II, 104, 12; Currency of Fame 30; Hill 486; Kress 161; Middeldorf 59