Lot 749
749
Felice Peretti, Sixtus V (1585-90), anonimous silver medal dated 1586, bust left wearing cope decorated with profile head of Christ, ANO II below, rev. obelisk, legend in eight lines in field, 39mm. (Arm.I, 293, 1 for rev.; L.770), some old tooling both sides, a very fine old striking
Felice Peretti, Sixtus V (1585-90), anonimous silver medal dated 1586, bust left wearing cope decorated with profile head of Christ, ANO II below, rev. obelisk, legend in eight lines in field, 39mm. (Arm.I, 293, 1 for rev.; L.770), some old tooling both sides, a very fine old striking

Details
Felice Peretti, Sixtus V (1585-90), anonimous silver medal dated 1586, bust left wearing cope decorated with profile head of Christ, ANO II below, rev. obelisk, legend in eight lines in field, 39mm. (Arm.I, 293, 1 for rev.; L.770), some old tooling both sides, a very fine old striking

Lot Essay

The reverse is listed in Armand with a portrait of Domenico Fontana, by the medallist 'MB'.
The obelisk in the piazza of S Peter's was brought to Rome from Egypt by Caligula, who had it set up in the Circus Maximus. It was the first of four obelisks to be repositioned by Fontana as part of Sixtus's project for the embellishment of the city. The others were set up in front of S. Maria Maggiore (1587), S. Giovanni in Laterano (1588), and in the Piazza del Popolo (1589).