The bronze portrait medal of Cardinal Andrea della Valle

Abstract

The bronze portrait medal of Cardinal Andrea della Valle (1463-1534), commissioned in honor of the cardinal’s selection by Pope Clement VII (r.1523-1534) to open the porta santa, or Holy Door of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and thereby initiating the Jubilee Year of 1525, is the earliest example of a Jubilee medal produced for a cardinal. Nevertheless, the della Valle medal has received little scholarly attention. It has escaped notice that Cardinal della Valle’s small sculpture marks an important moment in cardinal medallic patronage, as it was executed simultaneously to the first papal medal commemorating the Jubilee, commissioned by Pope Clement VII. I posit that della Valle recognized that his role in the Jubilee ceremonies as akin to that of the Pope, and commissioned a politically charged work aimed at portraying himself as a prime papal candidate. To support this thesis, I first consider della Valle’s choice to commission a medal against the backdrop of his family history and collecting habits, viewing it as a manifestation of a long-standing effort on the part of the della Valle to ascend the social ranks of Rome through promotion by visual means. Contextualizing the medal against that backdrop suggests that the object functioned as propaganda to some degree. Then, I analyze the medal’s iconography against others commissioned by Renaissance cardinals, specifically the extensive collection now housed in the British Museum, showing both similarities and significant differences in both imagery and use of text, demonstrating that Cardinal della Valle’s medal surpassed his contemporaries. Finally, I affirm the medal’s place as the first Jubilee medal executed by a cardinal, and consider the medal’s concurrent execution with the first papal Jubilee medal as further significance at pontifical implications. This study represents the first evaluation of the medal in over sixty years and will assert it as a means of self-promotion by an ambitious cinquecento cardinal. As such, the thesis holds broad significance not only for advancing understanding of the cardinal’s patronage but, more broadly for augmenting our appreciation of a class of medals largely overlooked by scholars, those commissioned by Renaissance cardinals.