Jaques Jonghelinck, gold medal of Alessandro Farnese, 1585, ALEXANDER FARNES PAR PLA DVX BELG DVM GVB, draped and cuirassed bust right in high collar and ruff, wearing badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, AET 40 on truncation, rev. CONCIPE CERTAS SPES 1585, Alessandro rising from a couch in a tent, a satyr standing at the entrance, showing him a ship on a fast flowing river, its progress barred by pontoon bridges, Antwerp in the distance, SSATYROS below, 46mm., 38.27g. (Arm.II,265,14; Taelman 20; Simonis 171 pl. XV; Smolderen 99; van Loon I,350), extremely fine, extremely rare, with an integral gold ring for suspension

Details

Jaques Jonghelinck, gold medal of Alessandro Farnese, 1585, ALEXANDER FARNES PAR PLA DVX BELG DVM GVB, draped and cuirassed bust right in high collar and ruff, wearing badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, AET 40 on truncation, rev. CONCIPE CERTAS SPES 1585, Alessandro rising from a couch in a tent, a satyr standing at the entrance, showing him a ship on a fast flowing river, its progress barred by pontoon bridges, Antwerp in the distance, SSATYROS below, 46mm., 38.27g. (Arm.II,265,14; Taelman 20; Simonis 171 pl. XV; Smolderen 99; van Loon I,350), extremely fine, extremely rare, with an integral gold ring for suspension

Lot Essay

The reverse shows Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma (d.1592) at the siege of Antwerp in 1585. The scene is based on the Dream of Alexander as related by Plutarch in his Life of Alexander the Great, ch.VIII. A Satyr appeared to the Greek commander and predicted the imminent fall of Tyre. Though the scene could be taken as a compliment, Alessandro was almost universally hated, and here his features are slightly exaggerated to give him the appearance of a satyr