Jubilee medal with portrait of Pope Paul III/view of Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican according to a design by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

Alessandro Cesati, referred to as il Greco due to his mother’s Cypriot heritage, was a distinguished gem and cameo engraver. Having arrived in Rome in the early 1530s, he quickly became associated with the Farnese circle, primarily through his friendship with Annibale Caro. Caro later influenced Vasari to include Cesati in the 1550 edition of Le Vite. In the Giuntina edition, this mention evolved into a commendation of Cesati's sophisticated classicism, which included high praise from Michelangelo. In 1540, Cesati was appointed engraver of the Papal Mint by Paul III. He officially shared this position with Emilian Giovan Giacomo Bonzagni starting in January 1547, although there was some tension between them. Cesati remained employed at the Roman Mint until at least 1561, during the pontificates of Julius III, Paul IV (for whom he made the fisherman's ring in the summer of 1555) and Pius IV, and also worked for Ottavio Farnese in Parma. He later moved to Piedmont and, from 1562, worked for the Dukes of Savoy, Emanuele Filiberto and Margherita of France. The last known mention of him is in a letter from Caro dated October 1564, indicating that he had recently returned to Cyprus, where part of his family still resided (Hirsch 2021).
This is an ancient, high-quality example of new coinage—updated for the Holy Year of 1550—based on an earlier and rarer medal created by Alessandro Cesati under Paul III’s direction during his thirteenth year of reign (October 1546–October 1547). It likely commemorates the completion of the wooden model of Saint Peter’s Basilica designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger from 1538 onwards with Antonio Labacco's collaboration, and also marks the sudden death of the architect in September 1546 (Thoenes 1994a).
Pope Paul III’s initiative was undertaken with pride and the symbolic intention of re-establishing the basilica, particularly as it coincided with the commencement of the Council of Trent. This followed a tradition started by Julius II, who first promoted the Vatican projects he sponsored through the issuance of medals and coins.
The new commission dates, as indicated by the inscription on the obverse, to the sixteenth year of Farnese’s pontificate, counted from October 13, 1549, but interrupted by the death of Paul III on November 10. It was carried out by Cesati, likely with the collaboration of Bonzagni, at the same time as other medals designed for the same jubilee occasion, bearing the same date and an identical portrait (Alteri 2021, 55–56). The image of Saint Peter, now replaced by Michelangelo’s designs, was reused on the reverse. Once Michelangelo gained control of the construction site, he immediately distanced himself from the choices and design procedures of his predecessor, leading to a reaction from Antonio’s group of collaborators and associates. The persistence of Sangallo’s design, which was also utilized in the jubilee medals of Julius III and Gregory XIII, can be attributed to several factors. Foremost among these is the fact that Buonarroti had not completed a comprehensive design for the basilica’s façade by 1549 or even thereafter. This façade is the part of the building most suited to being represented within the constrained space of a relief. Consequently, our medal, similar to the one from 1546–1547, depicts the basilica’s front based on Antonio il Giovane’s model, but with certain modifications in height (the bell towers have one less storey) and width (the seven bays are reduced to five, and the semicircular transepts are omitted). These adjustments are evident in a drawing attributed to Raphael da Montelupo, preserved in Munich, which is widely acknowledged as preparatory for the relief (Thoenes 1994b, Burioni 2021).

Maria Beltramini

Entry published on 12 June 2025

Good.

Front: in the circle “PAVLVS III PONT[ifex] MAX[imvs] AN[no] XVI”; in the pectoral cross, under the figurative border: “ANNO IVBILAEI MDL”;
back: around the edge “AN[no] IOBILAEO MDL”; in the exergue: “PETRO APOST[olorvm] PRINC[ipi] C[onsecratum?]”;
beaded border.

Thoenes Christof, Alessandro Cesati detto il Grechetto, Medaglia del papa Paolo III, in Millon Henry, Magnago Lampugnani Vittorio (a cura di), Rinascimento da Brunelleschi a Michelangelo. La rappresentazione dell’architettura, catalogo della mostra (Venezia, Palazzo Grassi, 31 marzo-6 novembre 1994), Milano 1994, p. 646, cat. 369  (Thoenes 1994a);
Thoenes Christof, Alessandro Cesati detto il Grechetto, Medaglia del papa Paolo III, in Millon Henry, Magnago Lampugnani Vittorio (a cura di), Rinascimento da Brunelleschi a Michelangelo. La rappresentazione dell’architettura, catalogo della mostra (Venezia, Palazzo Grassi, 31 marzo-6 novembre 1994), Milano 1994, pp. 645-646, cat. 368 (Thoenes 1994b);
Alteri Giancarlo, Kommunikation und Propaganda auf den Medaillen der Päpste, in Hirsch Martin, Burioni Matteo (a cura di), Die silberne Stadt. Rom im Spiegel seiner Madaillen, München 2021, pp. 51-59;
Burioni Matteo, Alessandro Cesati, Gian Giacomo Bonzagni. St. Peter nach dem Entwurf von Antonio da Sangallo d.J. 1550, in Hirsch Martin, Burioni Matteo (a cura di), Die silberne Stadt. Rom im Spiegel seiner Madaillen, München 2021, pp. 204-206, cat. 54;
Hirsch Martin, Alessandro Cesati, genannt il Grechetto (1516-nach 1564), in Hirsch Martin, Burioni Matteo (a cura di), Die silberne Stadt. Rom im Spiegel seiner Madaillen, München 2021, pp. 310-311.