Object Description
58 GIANELLO DELLA TORRE (1500-85), Cremonese military architect in the service of Charles V
Without obverse
Rev. The Fountain of the Sciences. Around, VIRTVS; in exergue, NVNQ : DEFICIT
Bronze, hollow cast, 80 mm.
The reverse is an allusion to a hydraulic machine which della Torre made to raise water from the Tagus to Toledo. Armand notes that the same design appears on a cameo in the Cabinet de France. The reverse type also appears on an unsigned medal of Philip II (Arm. i, p. 168, 27). Since the medal of Philip derives from one by Leone Leoni, the medal of della Torre has been given to him also. However, since Jacopo is known to have copied Leoni's types on at least one other occasion, the medal of Ippolita di Ferdinando Gonzaga (see no. 59), and since Jacopo and della Torre both worked in Spain for long periods, the medal is probably by Jacopo. It is normally dated about 1550.
Bibl.: Arm. i, p. 170, 38; 3, p. 74nn; 3, p. 115C; Kress, no. 441a (rev.); Salton, no. 67 (as Leone Leoni); Habich, pl. 93, 8; Lanna, no. 227, pl. 15; Supino, no. 417, pi. 40; Forrer 6, pp. 133, 134 (ill.) ; Fabriczy, pl. 39, 4; MM. i, p. 215, pl. 49,1; E. Plon, Leone Leoni et Pompeo Leoni, Paris 1887, pp. 273-74, pl. 34, 8, 9; Hill, N. I. A., no. 330 (for a different medal of della Torre describing him as architect to Philip II); Rosenheim sale catalog, Sotheby, 30 April 1923, no. 133 (as Leoni); Molinier 2, no. 353 (example in the Louvre as reverse of medal of Philip II, attributed to Leoni); Madrid, p. 231, no. 270.
