Matteo de'Pasti, bronze medal of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, dated 1450, SIGISMVNDVS PANDVLFVS MALATESTA PAN F, laureate armoured bust left, rev. PRAECL ARIMINI TEMPLVM AN GRATIAE VF, faade of San Francesco at Rimini, dated below MCCCCL, 40mm. (Arm.I,21,17; Hill 183; Bargello I,47), a very fine cast, dark brown metal

Details
Matteo de'Pasti, bronze medal of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, dated 1450, SIGISMVNDVS PANDVLFVS MALATESTA PAN F, laureate armoured bust left, rev. PRAECL ARIMINI TEMPLVM AN GRATIAE VF, faade of San Francesco at Rimini, dated below MCCCCL, 40mm. (Arm.I,21,17; Hill 183; Bargello I,47), a very fine cast, dark brown metal

Lot Essay

The foundation medal for the church of San Francesco at Rimini, begun in 1446, dedicated in 1450 but never completed. The reverse shows Leone Battista Alberti's design for the elevation, the first attempt to adapt the Roman triumphal arch to church architecture. The inscription across the faade gives simply Sigimondo's name and the date, and the church, a monument to the glory of Sigismondo and his wife Isotta, is now known as the Temple Malatesta.