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COMPLETE CATALOGUE OF THE SAMUEL H· KRESS COLLECTION RENAISSANCE MEDALS BY G· F· HILL AND G· POLLARD RENAISSANCE MEDALS FROM THE SAMUEL H· KRESS COLLECTION AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART BASED ON THE CATALOGUE OF RENAISSANCE MEDALS IN THE GUSTAVE DREYFUS COLLECTION BY G·F·HILL REVISED AND ENLARGED BY GRAHAM POLLARD PUBLISHED BY THE PHAIDON PRESS FOR THE SAMUEL H·KRESS FOUNDATION THE REPRODUCTIONS IN THIS VOLUME ARE FROM NBW PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY BULLATY-LOMBO PHOTOGRAPHERS' NBW YORK CITY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY PHAIDON PRESS LTD' LONDON SW 7 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN I967 BY ROBERT MACLEIIOSE & CO. LTD A GLASGOW CONTENTS PREFACE page V11 INTRODUCTORY NOTE page IX CATALOGUE page 3 ILLUSTRATIONS page 133 CONCORDANCES page 273 INDEX OF INSCRIPTIONS page 278 GENERAL INDEX page 293 . INDEX OF PERSONS page 300 INDEX OF ARTISTS page 306 PREFACE HE first and only catalogue of the collection of medals formed by Gustave Dreyfus appeared in I93 I. Its author was Sir George Hill, who had studied the collection in depth when it was still T in Dreyfus' hands in the Boulevard Malesherbes in Paris. In a prefatory note, Hill observed that 'keenly as Gustave Dreyfus appreciated all his beautiful things, he had a particularly soft place in his heart for the Italian medals, and ... he would have agreed with the German critic who declared that the medallic art was par excellence the art of the Renaissance, the expression of the quintessence of the spirit of that age.' The preface continues with the tribute: 'His was perhaps the finest collection that has ever been in the hands of a private collector - the "perhaps" might be omitted, but that it is difficult to range the great collections in a true perspective.' Thanks to the Kress Foundation, the Dreyfus collection of medals was not dispersed, like so many other medallic collections, but is preserved intact in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, where it bears out Hill's claim to be regarded as the finest private collection of medals ever to have been formed. Its claim to superiority rests first on the range it covers, second on the emphasis that is accorded to medals which are of aesthetic and not simply of historical or archaeological significance, and third on the altogether exceptional quality of the single medals it contains. In the case of the companion collection of pla­ quettes, we know that Dreyfus spared no pains to substitute better for less good impressions, and of the medals that is also true. Owing to the casual manner in which they were built up, public col­ lections of medals are almost invariably of inconsistent or unequal quality. The collection in Washing­ ton, on the other hand, is stamped through its whole length by the fastidiousness of individual choice. When the matter of preparing catalogues of the Kress collection of medals, small bronzes and plaquettes was first considered, it was apparent that the status of the three existing catalogues of the then Dreyfus collection was far from uniform. Whereas the catalogues of the small bronzes and plaquettes were in large part out of date and required to. be replaced, Hill's volume on the medals had successfully stood the test of time. There were experts on Renaissance medals before Hill, but none ,of them could approach his mastery of the whole field. His earliest contribution to the study ofRenais­ sauce medals appeared in I902, and the summation of his researches, his two-volume Corpus of Italian Medals ofthe Renaissance before Cellini, was issued in I930, a year before the Dreyfus catalogue. The Corplls is not simply an unrivalled compendium of information about medals; it is a definitive statement on the Italian medal, which owes much of its value to the sureness of Hill's eye and to the accuracy of his qualitative judgements. For all these reasons it was concluded that the substance of Hill's volume on the Dreyfus medals should not be tampered with. The editor of the present volume, Mr. Graham Pollard of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, himself a notable specialist on medals, shared this view. But however great the scholar and however deterrent the effect his work may have upon the students who come after him, knowledge does not stand still, and Mr. Pollard, as he indicates in his note on the present edition, has made a number of significant emendations and additions to Hill's catalogue. vii viii PREFACE The new book therefore has a triple purpose, it makes available for the first time one of the master­ pieces of the art-historical literature of the years between the two world wars - Hill's catalogue, it should be noted in parenthesis, was privately printed and was never placed on public sale -, it constitutes a companion to historical studies, and it provides a comprehensive survey of a now neglected aspect of Renaissance art. JOHN POPE-HENNESSY INTRODUCTORY NOTE HE Gustave Dreyfus collection of Renaissance medals was, during the owner's lifetime, the most celebrated private collection of such materials in existence. In 1945 Rush H. Kress T (1877-1963) purchased for the Samuel H. Kress Foundation the whole of the Gustave Dreyfus collection of Renaissance bronzes, which with the medals numbered just over 1300 items. Through the personal interest of Rush Kress and of Guy Emerson, Art Director of the Foundation, the collection was given to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1957. This fortunate act of generosity gave to America a national collection of medals worthy of comparison with the few great national collections of Europe. During the lifetime of Gustave Dreyfus (1837-1914) the only publication of the collection was that included in a series of articles on the bronzes, plaquettes and medals, which were published by Gaston Migeon in Les Arts, 1908. The whole collection was acquired from the executors of Gustave Dreyfus by Sir Joseph Duveen, and fully published in 193 I by a three-volume catalogue, Renaissance Medals by G. F. Hill, Renaissance Bronzes and Reliefs and Plaqllettes by Seymour de Ricci. In 1951, when the collection was first exhibited in the National Gallery of Art, a catalogue Renaissance Bronzes from the Kress Collection was published, edited by Perry B. Cott from the Hill and de Ricci catalogues. The first edition ofthis catalogue had remained a work ofsuch continued usefulness for the study of medals that it was decided for this edition to preserve the numbering of the collection as established by Hill. The Note on p. I gives guidance to the changes and additions which have taken place. Indexes have been made in the manner of Hill's Corpus ofItalian Medals. The bibliographical abbreviations given for this catalogue do not form a full guide to the literature of the subject. A convenient bibliography for medals is to be found in P. Grierson, Bibliographie Ntl11Iismatique (Cercle d'Etudes Numismatique) Brussels, .1966. The second edition of M. Bernhart, Medaillen tmd Plaketten, Berlin, 1920, contains a large bibliography, and a list of the principal sales by. auction. The third edition of the work (edited by T. Kroha), Medaillen tlUd Plaketten, Brunswick, 1966, omits this bibliography, and substitutes a few recent references. The many writings by G. F. Hill on medals are included in his complete bibliography, A tribute to Sir George Hill Oil his eightieth birth­ day, Oxford (privately printed) 1948. The quarterly periodical Numismatic Literature, published since 1947 by the American Numismatic Society, contains a section in each issue in which are discussed current publications concerning medals. The only general accounts of Renaissance medals remain G. F. Hill, Medals of the Renaissance, Oxford, 1920; G. F. Hill, A Gtlide to tlte Exhibition ofmedals of the Renaissance in the British Mtlseum, London, 1923; and J. Babelon, La medaille et les 11Iedailletlrs, Paris, 192 7. I wish to thank Mr John Pope-Hennessy for being instrumental in my undertaking this edition, for his kindness in discussing problems, and for arranging access to the comparative materials in his care. r wish to record my gratitude to the late Carl Winter, formerly Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, for his interest in the project. ix x INTRODUCTORY NOTE My principal expression of gratitude for help with the preparation of this edition must go to Professor Ulrich Middeldorf, whose extraordinary generosity extended to the freedom of his annotated books and private papers concerning medals, the hospitality of his home, and a continuous exchange ofletters. Professor Middeldorfhas read a draft of the text, and has made many improve­ ments, especially in directing me to materials in the literature of the fine arts. I have not indicated where tills kindness has given me a published source, but Professor Middlcdorf's private opimon has always been clearly indicated by the form 'Middeldorf (private communication) ...' I trust that he will accept this acknowledgment as sufficient recompense for his kindness. Mr A. E. Popham provided the materials for one of the catalogue entries, and amongst other scholars and collectors who were patient of enquiries I would mention Mr Philip Grierson, Mr Michael Jaffe, Dr J. R. Jones, Mr Mark Salton, and Professor Roberto Weiss. Dr and Mrs Clain­ Stefanelli were kind enough to inspect the coins in the collection for me, and to confirm my views on them. M. Albert Chatelet and Dr Paul Grotemeyer kindly provided comparative materials, and my wife pursued Italian sources and helped with the trials ofindexing and proof-reading. In Washington, the Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Art, Mr Perry B. Cott, and his colleague Mr David E. Rust, made the handling of the collection a great pleasure.

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