A pretty but somewhat sombre boy celebrates his Patron, Cosimo the Elder on a Florin
It seems that nobody knows whom this young man was – but the importance of this image by Sandro Botticelli painted in 1474 was the head depicted on the gold Florin that he is holding.
The coin shown is much larger the actual size of a Florin – which is not much above a 5p coin – and the face shown thereon is clearly recognisable as Cosimo the Elder – the head of the Ruling family in Florence then, and for practically all of the following 300 years, the Medici
Botticelli’s had Cosimo il Vecchio as his patron because he had been a pupil of one of his favourite painters – the roguish Fra Filippo Lippi – where he studied in his botteghe with Filippo’s own son Filippino Lippi , until he was taken on to collaborate with Andrea del Verrochio from whence he finally branched out on his own.
Coin collection, or numismatics, was another element of the Renaissance – possession of a complete collection of Roman coins suggested a love and understanding of antiquity -especially if the owner could identify all the Emperors from their portraits on the front of the coin.
The coin below is a silver Roman Denarius – the penny in the original sterling L.S.d (Pounds, Shillings and Pence) – – first minted in 211 b.c.- it’s value was 10 asses.
In contrast the famous Florentine Florin below was a gold coin (fiorino d’oro)first struck in 1252. It’s value was equal to the value of one lira , which at the time was equal to a silver pound of 20 soldi or 240 denari – so one florin could theoretically purchase 2,400 asses !
A real Florentine Florin, as I have said, was a much smaller coin than that shown in Botticelli’s painting and featured the City’s famous Giglio symbol on the front and the city’s Patron Saint. – St John the Baptist .on the reverse.
Owing to the large size of the coin it is reasonable to assume that the one shown in Botticelli’s painting was actually a bronze medal struck by Cosimo as a gift for a visiting Diplomat – but we still don’t know who the pretty model was!
A handsome young man, indeed, and he looks so Italian! Thanks, Penny, for this insight into the Florentine Florin, I’ve been enjoying all your posts lately, pomegranate power, and particularly, the singing in the rain episode. Nothing like a musical Comedy of Errors in the pouring rain—I loved your reference to Gene Kelly!
All best.