Gaspare Morone-Mola, silver medal of Alexander VII, 1665, on the canonisation of Francis de Sales, ALEXAN VII PONT MAX AN XI, bust left, wearing mozzetta, camauro, and stole, dated and signed below truncation MDCLV.GM., rev. BEATO FRANCISCOEPISCOPO INTER SANTOS RELATO, view of the interior of Saint Peter's, the Pope in conclave, the dove of the Holy Spirit above, 41mm. (Bartolotti E665a; Bonanni II, p.665, XIX; Ciechanowiecki 259; Lincoln 1228; Tocci-Warsdale 307; Varriano 102; Venuti XLI), pireced at 12 o'clock, a very fine contemporary striking

Details

Gaspare Morone-Mola, silver medal of Alexander VII, 1665, on the canonisation of Francis de Sales, ALEXAN VII PONT MAX AN XI, bust left, wearing mozzetta, camauro, and stole, dated and signed below truncation MDCLV.GM., rev. BEATO FRANCISCOEPISCOPO INTER SANTOS RELATO, view of the interior of Saint Peter's, the Pope in conclave, the dove of the Holy Spirit above, 41mm. (Bartolotti E665a; Bonanni II, p.665, XIX; Ciechanowiecki 259; Lincoln 1228; Tocci-Warsdale 307; Varriano 102; Venuti XLI), pireced at 12 o'clock, a very fine contemporary striking

Lot Essay

The rarer variant of the annual medal of 1665 showing the Pope wearing mozetta, not tiara. Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1662), Bishop of Geneva, devoted his life to the reconversion of his Swiss flock to the Catholic faith, mainly through numerous pamphlets. His two books, An Introduction to the Devout Life (1609), and A Treatise on the Love of God (1616), are celebrated works of mystical theology.