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Lot Essay
Designs for the obversi of two medals minted in 1681 by Massimiliano Soldani (1656-1740) after designs by Baciccio in honor of Queen Christina of Sweden and her friend and confidant Cardinal Decio Azzolini (1623-1689), F. Vannel and G. Toderi, La Medaglia Barocca in Toscana, Florence, 1987, p. 56, nos. 29 and 32).
Queen Christina of Sweden (1627-1689) arrived in Rome in 1654 following her conversion to Catholicism. Already a keen collector of coins, she embarked from around 1680 on a project to issue a series of medals with on one side her portrait and on the other symbols illustrating her life. The designs for these were to be commissioned to the foremost Roman artists, probably through the help from her secretary Gian Petro Bellori. The series, never completed, was to constist of 120 medals. The symbol of Victory is explained by the inscription on the medal, Victoria Maxima, commemorating her decision to abdictae, seen by Queen Christina as her 'greatest victory', P. Bjurström, Queen Christina of Sweden, exhib. cat., National Museum, Stockholm, 1966, p. 329 and nos. 787 and 792. The medal with Cardinal Azzolini bears the inscription Invidiam Virtute, or Virtue overcomes Envy.
Queen Christina of Sweden (1627-1689) arrived in Rome in 1654 following her conversion to Catholicism. Already a keen collector of coins, she embarked from around 1680 on a project to issue a series of medals with on one side her portrait and on the other symbols illustrating her life. The designs for these were to be commissioned to the foremost Roman artists, probably through the help from her secretary Gian Petro Bellori. The series, never completed, was to constist of 120 medals. The symbol of Victory is explained by the inscription on the medal, Victoria Maxima, commemorating her decision to abdictae, seen by Queen Christina as her 'greatest victory', P. Bjurström, Queen Christina of Sweden, exhib. cat., National Museum, Stockholm, 1966, p. 329 and nos. 787 and 792. The medal with Cardinal Azzolini bears the inscription Invidiam Virtute, or Virtue overcomes Envy.