Object Description
83 PAUL V Borghese, Pope 1605-21 1608
Obv. Bust to right, wearing cope. Around, PAVLVS . V . BVRGHESIVS ROM . PONT . MAX . A . S . MDC . VIII PONT . III . ; below truncation, P . SANQVIRIC .
Rev. The Basilica of Saint Peter's. Around, TEM * D . PETRI . IN . VATICANO; in exergue, ET . PORTAE . INFIRI . NON | PRAEVALEBVNT
Bronze, struck, 57 mm.
Under Paul V, Carlo Maderno added the nave, portico and facade to Saint Peter's, beginning in 1607. This medal depicts the facade of the church as planned in 1608. Four years later Paul V commissioned bell towers, which were never completed and which exist as substructures today. See no. 82 for a medal showing the later projected facade. The reverse inscription is from Matthew 16:18.
Bibl.: Forrer 5, p. 332; Brescia 2, p. 15, no. 199; Venuti, p. 209, no. 11; Bonnani, p. 507, no. 6; Bonnani, Tempio Vaticano, p. 145; Martinori, fasc. xiii, p. 112; Tresor Papes, pl. 25, 5.
