Skip to main content

Apollonio Menabeni (ca. 1540–ca. 1603)

Loan
 (Italian, 1538–1591)
Datedated 1591
MediumCopper alloy, cast
DimensionsDiam.: 2 in. (5.03 cm)
Credit LineDr. Stephen K. and Janie Woo Scher Collection
Accession numberSCHER.2014.15.147
Commentary

Apollonio Menabeni was a Milanese philosopher, poet, and physician to the King of Sweden. He wrote Tractatus de magno animali . . . in 1581 for the emperor Rudolf II. The reverse of this medal commemorates Menabeni's work as a doctor and naturalist with an illustration of a scene from the fifth book of Aulus Gellius's Attic Nights. It tells the story of Apion, who claimed to have witnessed the tribulations of the Roman slave Androcles, who escaped to a cave to discover it was the home of a wounded lion. Androcles removed the large thorn from the lion's paw and in return received a lion's loyalty. The depiction is reminiscent of scenes from the life of St. Jerome, which were popular at the time of the German Renaissance. Abondio was one of the few medalists to successfully marry the styles of Italian and German Renaissance art.

Source: Scher, Stephen K., et al. The Scher Collection of Commemorative Medals. New York and London, 2019.  

Bronze portrait medal of Cecilia Gonzaga wearing a high-necked, high-waisted dress with full sl…
Loan
Pisanello (Antonio di Puccio Pisano)
dated 1447
Bronze portrait medal of Leonello d'Este in profile to the left
Loan
Pisanello (Antonio di Puccio Pisano)
dated 1444
Gilt bronze portrait medal of Alfonso of Aragon in armor and chainmail, in profile to the right…
Loan
Pisanello (Antonio di Puccio Pisano)
dated 1449
Bronze portrait medal of Altobello Averoldo wearing a hat, in profile to the right
Loan
Maffeo Olivieri
ca. 1517–21
Bronze medal of Francesco degli Alidosi wearing a round cap and a hooded cloak, buttoned up the…
Loan
Francesco Francia
ca. 1508/10
Bronze portrait medal of Artemisia Gentileschi wearing a lace-trimmed dress with a pearl neckla…
Loan
Unknown artist
ca. 1627
Bronze portrait medal of Pierre Jeannin wearing a magisterial robe over a high-collared shirt
Loan
Guillaume Dupré
dated 1618
Lead portrait medal of Emperor John VIII Palaeologus wearing a large pointed hat in profile to …
Loan
Pisanello (Antonio di Puccio Pisano)
ca. 1438
Lead portrait medal of Ludovica Felicina Rossi wearing a v-neck dress with a wide collar and pu…
Pastorino da Siena (Pastorino de' Pastorini)
dated 1572
Copyright © 1998-2025 The Frick Collection. All Rights Reserved.
InstagramFacebookXYoutubeThreadsmenusearch2