IV. The medals of the Vatican mint. Bonanni. Numismata Pontificum Romanorum. 2 vols. Rome, 1699, fol. This is in my library. Mazio. Serie dei conj. di medaglie pontificie, etc. Rome, 1824, 8vo. V. The coinage of the States of the Church. Rome, 1807, 8vo. Scilla. Breve notizie delle monete pontificie. Rome, 1715, 4to. I have this. Monete dei romani pontefici avanti il mille. Turin, 1858, 8vo. Charvet. Origines du pouvoir temporel des papes, précisées par la numismatique. Paris, 1865, 8vo. VI. The coinage of prelates and monastic houses having secular power. A great number of the issues of these is contained in Neumann. Beschreibung der bekanntesten kupfermünzen. 6 vols. Prague, 1836–72, 8vo. VII. The medals of Cardinals, Papal legates and other dignitaries other than the sovereign pontiffs. 2 vols. Gaetani. Museum Mazzuchellianum, seu numismata virorum doctrinâ praestantium. VIII. Regarding the additional group, however, of medico-ecclesiasticals, if I may use this expression, which comprises the extensive series of the medals and tokens of sacred places, occasions and sources, of healing, many of which are in my collection, while several of them I have described in my papers upon the medals of obstetrics and of sanitation,† there seem to exist very few publications to aid one. scarcely know more than the following: I Benno (Abbot). Disquisitio sacra numismatica de origine, quidditate, virtute, pioque usu numismatum, seu Crucularum S. Benedicti Abbatis. Vienna, 1743, 12mo. The medals of St. Benedict have always been esteemed of peculiar efficacy toward keeping good hope in their wearer during the prevalence of epidemics, as of the plague and cholera. The work referred to is so extremely rare that it was unknown to Lipsius, and is therefore unmentioned in his enumeration of all numismatic books published previously to the existing century. equally a stranger to Pfeiffer and Ruland, who have catalogued no less than one hundred and fifty-seven varieties of the "Benedict-pfennige." It is however in my library. Pfeiffer and Ruland. Pestilentia in nummis. Weimar, 1880, 8vo. The same, revised and enlarged, with photographic plates. Tubingen, 1882, 8vo. Both of these editions I have, as also Die Deutschen Pestamulete; ein nachtrag zur "Pestilentia in nummis." Deutsches Archiv für Gesch. der Medicin, etc., 1882. With these preliminary remarks I come to the subject of the present paper. A couple of years ago, while examining the manuscript catalogue of the medical collection of a professional friend with similar tastes to my own, Dr. G. J. Fisher of Sing Sing, N. Y., I found included among these memorials of physicians, surgeons and professors of the art humane, one of St. Charles Borromeo, with the explanation that it was because "during the prevalence New England Medical Monthly, November and December, 1886. †The Sanitarian, May, July, August, and Oct., 1887 ; February and April, 1888. Bibliotheca numaria. 2 vols. Leipsic, 1801, 8vo. of the plague at Milan in 1576, he gave his personal attendance to the sick at the risk of his life, and spent all that he possessed in ministering to their wants." Recognizing the justice of this reasoning, I further discovered in a work in my library upon the medals commemorative of numismatists,* evidence that St. Charles, like Goethe, whose medallic biography in connection with medicine I have similarly endeavored to collate,† was also a student of coins and medals. The collection of this kind that he formed while at Rome was long preserved intact. It was cited by the learned Hubert Goltzius of Bruges, who, upon his return to the Netherlands in 1560, reported that he had examined in Italy no less than nine hundred and fifty numismatic cabinets; a proof of the ardor with which this department of history was then pursued by scholars. Upon examining my own collection, it proved that I at this time possessed but one or two medals of St. Charles, and so seldom had I seen them referred to by authors, that I presumed there probably did not exist more than a dozen separate varieties. Durand of Geneva, in 1865, was able to present in the body of his work already cited, but four, and in his supplement one other, a fifth. The investigation that I have made has, however, already revealed no less than forty-one. In commencing my study of the medals of St. Charles, I had this additional interest. In the spring of 1854, nearly thirty-five years ago, I made my first visit to Milan. The winter had been spent at Valletta among the memories of St. John of Jerusalem and his Knights Hospitallers, at Naples, at Rome, and at Florence. Upon passing thence into Lombardy, each day that was spent within the beautiful northern city, nestling under the snows of the Alps, produced a more and more profound satisfaction, which rapidly centered about its most impressive of cathedrals and the relic in crystal casket that this contained, the embalmed body of St. Charles Borromeo. I had already visited many notable shrines of the kind, but had been equally affected by none. During a trip at that time to the Borromean Islands in Lago Maggiore, which for several centuries have been in the possession of the family of St. Charles, I availed myself of the opportunity of visiting Arona, his birthplace, near which stands the colossal bronze statue erected to his memory in 1697, one hundred and thirteen years after his death. Towering to the height of nearly seventy feet, it represents the saint in the habit of a simple religious," bestowing his blessing upon his town's-people, and indeed upon his country. The feeling of veneration that then impressed itself upon me was intensified upon a subsequent visit to Milan, many years afterwards, and it has been with peculiar satisfaction that I have found myself able by the preparation of the present paper, to pay professional tribute to his memory.‡ Durand. Médailles et jetons des numismates, Geneva, 1865, 4°. † See Journal, Oct., 1877, and Jan., 1888. then Chief Penitentiary and Archprelate at Sta. Maria Maggiore, and to the legates at Bologna and Ravenna. At the death of Pope Pius he returned to his See of St. Charles was the grandson of Federigo Borro- Milan. He died in 1584, and was canonized by Pope meo, and second son of Ghiberto II, Count of Arona, Paul V in 1610. These facts I take from an extremely and Margarita de' Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He minute history of the House of Borromeo, in my library, was born in 1538. In 1560, while an abbot, he was contained in Der Historischen Remarques über die called to Rome by his uncle, and appointed Apostolic neuesten Sachen in Europa, Vol. IX. Hamburg, 1707, Protonotary, and early in the next year Cardinal Dea- 4°. The several chapters are upon pages 116, 123, 140 con, under the title of Sts. Vitus and Modestus; then and 148. St. Charles's biography is given upon pages Archbishop of Milan and Cardinal Patron; soon after, 141 and 142. The family name was originally BonroCardinal Presbyter, with the title of St. Praxedes, and mano, afterwards contracted into Borromeo. While engaged upon this catalogue, it occurred to me that among my foreign correspondents there was one at Milan from whom, as a townsman of St. Charles, I might expect great aid. The event has justified the reasoning. Of the thirteen medals of which he has sent me descriptions, twelve were wholly new to me; while, curiously enough, with the single exception indicated, the twenty-nine that I had myself independently collected, were as completely unknown to my Milanese friend. He will pardon me if I thus freely express my thanks to Signor Francesco Gnecchi, the author, conjointly with his brother Ercole, of several important numismatic works.* I will now enumerate the medals of St. Charles thus far within my knowledge. As it is more than likely that there are others still of which I have not heard, I shall trust that if any such omissions occur to my readers they will be kind enough to inform me of them. I shall be particularly gratified if clergymen in charge of parishes dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo, or holding collegiate chairs under the same patronage, shall become sufficiently. interested to aid me. It will be perceived in the course of the paper that I am already under obligations of the kind to one of the Reverend professors at the College of St. Laurent, near Montreal, Canada. I must also acknowledge my gratitude to Rev. James Coyle, of St. Joseph's, Newport, R. I., for valuable assistance in interpreting several abbreviations that would have been utterly unintelligible to any person save an ecclesiastic. It will be noticed. that I have endeavored to arrange the medals according to the device and inscription upon the obverse, of which there are several distinct types or groups. I. Obverse. Bust of the Holy Father to the right. Inscription: PAVLVS · V · BVRGHESIVS. RO(MANVS). P(ONTIFEX). MAX(IMVS). Reverse. The canonization of St. Charles. Inscription: to right, above, INTER. SANCTOS. REFERT and in exergue, CARD(INALEM). BORROMEVM. A(NNO). N. (Nostro? or Nativitatis?) M. D C. X. (The points are three-cornered.) Bonanni, Loc. cit., II, pp. 505, 526, fig. XXI. This is figured by Bonanni, and was struck upon the canonization of the saint. 2. Obverse. As the preceding. Reverse. Two angels, hovering, uphold a crown, which rests upon the word Humilitas in "Lombardic characters. Legend, commencing at the right of the crown, ET. EXA-LT-AVIT. HIV-MILES. (The points are three-cornered.) Ibid. II, pp. 505, 527, fig. XXII. This is figured by Bonanni. Its reverse resembles that of No. 21. The crowned "Humilitas" is spoken of by Signor Gnecchi in a recent letter to me as the arms of "the Borromeo family," as though it had been such previously to the time of St. Charles. I think, however, that this may be an error, and that the crest in question was the private one of the saint, assumed by himself. It was at any rate by his orders placed upon his tomb, after the epitaph which he himself had written. The three signet rings, interlocked, which appear on Nos. 10, 11, and 25 were similarly probably not the general family crest. They are given upon the medal of Cardinal Federigo * Le Monete di Milano da Carlo Magno a Vittorio Emanuele II, 1884; Guida Numismatica Universale, 1886, and Le Monete dei Trivulzio (a celebrated family of Milan), 1887. ↑ Bonanni states that the ancestors of St. Charles had also professed the great virtue of humility, and that while some of them had adopted a kneeling camel as their crest, others of them had employed three feathers, as suggestive of the worthlessness of worldly possessions and desires. (Loc. cit., II, p. 527.) Both of these emblems were employed by Vitalliano Borromeo, more than a century before the birth of St. Charles (Der Historischen Remarques, etc., 1707, p. 118). The feathers are spoken of as springing from a camel's hump. Borromeo hereafter described. They appear to have originated with this latter prelate, who died half a century after St. Charles, as his own device, and to have been subsequently perpetuated by his friends. This seems to have been the opinion of Count Gaetani of Brescia, to whose work I have already referred, and who from being a cleric himself would have been likely to have ascertained all the facts in the case. 3. Obverse. As the two preceding. Reverse. In the field, a little to the right, the church of St. Charles upon the Via Flaminia or Corso, in Rome. At the left, above, the saint, in clouds representing heaven, blessing the church. Inscription: DEI-AEDI-FICATIO. EST(IS). In exergue, S(ANCTVS). CAROLVS. (The points are three-cornered.) Ibid. II, pp. 505, 527, fig. XXIII. Figured by Bonanni. Upon the foundation, in 1612 (Bonanni erroneously says 1512), of the church of St. Charles in Rome, to the custody of which was committed the heart of the saint, by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo of Milan, hereafter to be referred to. 4. Obverse. The front of a church with three portals. In the centre a statue of St. Charles; to the right, one of St. Paul; and to the left, of St. Blasius. At the summit, the cross; and below, to the right and left, the eagle and dragon of the crest of the Borghesi, the family of Pope Paul V. Above these, the Greek letters A and N. Beneath the statue of St. Charles, his crest, the crowned HVMILITAS, bisecting the word FVNDA-ME(N,TVM* Legend: TALES. A-MBIO. FVN-DATORES. (The points are three-cornered.) Reverse. Inscription: D(OMINO). O(PTIMO). M(AXIMO). | PAVLO. v. p(ontifice). M(AXIMO). FAVE(N)TE | AD AMPLIANDAM ÆDEMS. CAROLI NOMINE ROMÆ PRIMO DEDICATAM LAPIDEM FVNDAME(N) TALEM | PER ARCHIP (RESBYTERVM). S. PETRI | | CLERICI REGVL(ARES). S. PAVLI | PONI CVRA (VE)RVNT | ANNO MDCXII Ibid. II, pp. 505, 528, figs. XXIV, XXV. This, of similar occasion to the last, is figured by Bonanni. The four pieces now described constitute what may be termed the Vatican series of the St. Charles medals. 5. Obverse. Bust of the saint, with biretta, to left. Inscription: CAR(OLVS). BORROMEVS-CARD(INALIS) ARCHIEP (ISCOPVS). MEDI(OLANI). Reverse. An altar, bearing a lamb with uplifted head. Upon it fire descends from heaven. Legend: SOLA GAVDET. HV. MIL-ITATE' DEVS. (This legend will be found, abbreviated, upon No. 27.) Bronze. Size 50 mm. (millimetres). By the American scale, 32 (sixteenths of an inch). Koehler. Historische Münz-Belustigungen. Nürnberg, 1729-50, 4to; XIII. 377....Gaetani. Loc. cit.. I, p. 379, pl. LXXXV, fig. 2........Trésor de Numismatique et de Glyptique. Méd. coulées en Italie. Paris, 1834-44, fol.; I, XXXIII, 4....Armand. Les Médailleurs Italiens des Quinzième et Seizième Siècles. Paris, 1883, 8vo; II, p. 263. I have this work. This is thought by Armand to have been struck in the last quarter of the sixteenth century, from 1575 to 1600. If such is the case, it must have been shortly after the death of St. Charles, and would therefore antedate those issued by the Vatican. It is in the collection of Dr. G. J. Fisher, of Sing Sing, N. Y., who has kindly sent me impressions. 6. Obverse. As the preceding, save that the CAR. is preceded by a distinct point, which is absent in the specimen there referred to, and is not mentioned by the careful writers previously cited. Reverse. As the preceding. Silvered bronze. 50 mm. 32. In my own collection. In Gaetani's figures of No. 5, the front (right) panel of the altar is plain; in the present it presents an internal rectangular plate. In his figure the altar stands away from the front, with broken ground intervening and *The expression E(N) denotes that the letter E has a small dash above it, signifying EN, which lack of material prevents showing in type. obscuring the base; in my specimen it stands nearer, and the whole base is seen. In these respects Dr. Fisher's medal seems, from the impressions, to coincide with my own. 7. As the preceding, save upon reverse MED. instead of MEDI. This has been communicated to me by Signor Gnecchi of Milan, who has it in bronze. He considers it a modern reproduction. 8. As No. 5, save upon obverse B(EATUS). CAR. instead of CAR. Durand is in error in referring this to the Trésor de Numismatique and to Gaetani. The latter at least has s. CAR. It is possible that Durand but mistook the s for B, in which case the present variety does not exist. This abbreviation exists however upon Nos. 16 and 17. 9. Obverse. As that of No. 6. Reverse. The cross of Malta, suspended, like that of a military decoration. Bronze. 45 mm. 28. In the collection of Signor Gnecchi, who has sent me an impression of the reverse. 10. Obverse. Bust of the saint, to left, with biretta. Inscription: CAR. BORRO MEVS CAR. ARC. MED. Reverse. The crowned HVMILITAS of St. Charles. Below, three signet rings interlocked, as explained under No. 2, and seen also in Nos. 11 and 25. Above the rings, M. D. C. To left a large scroll; to right a smaller one. Gold plated. 32 mm. 20. In my collection. Commemorative of the beatification of St. Charles, in 1600. II. Obverse and reverse as the preceding, but without the date. Bluish bronze. 32 mm. 20. In my collection. 12. ARC. MED. Obverse. Bust of the saint, to left. Inscription: CAR. BORROMEVS. CAR. Reverse. The cathedral of Milan. Inscription: TEMPLVM MAXIMVM MEDIOLANI. Bronze. 13. Obverse and reverse as the last, save upon the reverse merely TEMPLVM MAXIMVM. Bronze. 32 mm. 20. Fules Sambon. Catalogue d'une Collection de Médailles Grecques, Romaines et de Moyen-Age. Rome, 1885, p. 211, No. 2366. This is in my library. If it were not for Signor Sambon's deserved reputation for carefulness in description, I would suppose that it was but the preceding. [To be continued.] THE CHANTILLY MEDAL. THE medal which the Institut de France ordered to be struck in commemoration of the Duke d'Aumale's munificent gift of Chantilly to that institution, is a remarkable specimen of art. It bears on the obverse a medallion portrait of the donor by Chaplin, and on the reverse a view of the château and park. Impressions have been struck in gold, silver and bronze, and one of each, encased in a fine casket, with dedicatory inscription, was presented to the duke at Brussels by a delegation of the institute, headed by M. Renan. None but members of the Institute will be entitled to a bronze copy. |