Lot 203
203
Innocent XI, Odescalchi (1676-89), bronze medal, 95mm., bust right, wearing tiara and cope with embroidered panel showing the Imperial Eagle and a lion below, raising his right hand in benediction, rev. CASTRO NOVO EXPVGNATO, a rowing boat, four oarsmen rowing hard against adverse winds and rough water, an angel above holding an olive branch, dated 1687 in exergue (Bardini --; Bargello --; Kress --; Lincoln --), a rough cast, the obverse fields tooled, very rare
Innocent XI, Odescalchi (1676-89), bronze medal, 95mm., bust right, wearing tiara and cope with embroidered panel showing the Imperial Eagle and a lion below, raising his right hand in benediction, rev. CASTRO NOVO EXPVGNATO, a rowing boat, four oarsmen rowing hard against adverse winds and rough water, an angel above holding an olive branch, dated 1687 in exergue (Bardini --; Bargello --; Kress --; Lincoln --), a rough cast, the obverse fields tooled, very rare

Details
Innocent XI, Odescalchi (1676-89), bronze medal, 95mm., bust right, wearing tiara and cope with embroidered panel showing the Imperial Eagle and a lion below, raising his right hand in benediction, rev. CASTRO NOVO EXPVGNATO, a rowing boat, four oarsmen rowing hard against adverse winds and rough water, an angel above holding an olive branch, dated 1687 in exergue (Bardini --; Bargello --; Kress --; Lincoln --), a rough cast, the obverse fields tooled, very rare

Lot Essay

The reverse of this medal is known from a medal of Paolo Giordano II Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, with a portrait of the Duke on the obverse, and the same rowing scene on the reverse with a different legend and the date 1631 (see Toderi and Vannel Bargello 19; Toderi and Vannel Bardini 68). In these catalogues it is stated that the precise meaning of the scene on the reverse is unclear, but that a boat rowed against the winds and tide probably symbolises striving against adversity.
This medal certainly supports such a view, but in this case there is reference to a specific event. The year 1687 saw the Holy League winning a series of important victories against the Turks, most notably at Eslau and Munkacz. In the same year the Venetians were victorious at Corinth and Athens, and captured the fortresses of Knin and Castelnuovo in Dalmatia. It is this last victory that is celebrated on this medal. The normal reverse legend, CONTRA VENTOS ET VNDAS, 'against the winds and waves', is here replaced with the specific reference to the capture of Castelnuovo. It is also no coincidence that the Pope should wear a cope embroidered with a crowned heraldic eagle and a lion, presumably refering to the Holy Roman Empire and Venice.