Italy Cast Silver Medal ND ca. 1550–1570 Ecclesiastical Medallion – Council of Trent Era - Rare VF+

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Italy – ca. 1550–1570 Silver Ecclesiastical Medallion – Council of Trent Era

Cast silver devotional medallion from the time of the Counter-Reformation. Diameter: 46.4 mm. Weight: 36.68 g. Thickness: 1.8 mm. suspension loop added.

Obverse:
Bust of a high-ranking Catholic cleric, possibly a cardinal or bishop, facing left. Latin legend around: "ILLER. M. DNS. ANCT. RIEST. EPVS. GANDENSIS" (Ill(ustrissimus) et Reverend(issimus) Dominus Anct. Riest, Episcopus Gandensis) – possibly referencing a historical bishop of Ghent. Beaded border.

Reverse:
Standing nude figure of Christ (Man of Sorrows), leaning on a large cross, with a chalice at his feet. Around: "IN FORAMINIBVS PETRAE CONFIDENTIA MEA" – “In the clefts of the rock is my trust.” Beaded border.

Edge:
Plain. Suspension loop with a clearly struck maker’s mark “PH”.

Historical context:
This rare cast silver medallion dates from the period of the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and reflects the spiritual and iconographic priorities of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The portrait of a cleric—possibly a bishop of Ghent—is combined with a deeply Christological reverse, likely intended for private devotion. Comparable in style to the works of Alessandro Cesati and Roman medallists of the mid-16th century.

mark “PH”:
The loop bears a clear “PH” maker’s stamp. After close analysis, this mark is most plausibly interpreted as a 19th-century silversmith’s hallmark, applied when the loop was added or replaced. The absence of any documented 16th-century Italian silversmith with the initials “PH”, and the stylistic form of the stamp, suggest a later intervention—likely by a French or English craftsman who repurposed the medallion as a devotional pendant, as was common in the 1800s. This hallmark does not detract from the authenticity of the medallion itself, which remains a rare and historically significant piece from the post-Tridentine period

 

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