PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
V10 2007 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE
The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 39, September 30, 2007, Article 6 NUMISMATICS IN THE RENAISSANCE COMING TO PRINCETON UNIVERSITY [Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics at Princeton published the following release via the American Numismatic Society mail list Wednesday afternoon. -Editor] A major exhibition on "Numismatics in the Renaissance" will be on view in the Main Exhibition Gallery of Firestone Library at Princeton University from November 9, 2007, through July 20, 2008. The exhibition will include rare fifteenth- and sixteenth-century volumes from Princeton's Rare Books Division that discuss and illustrate ancient coins, and a display of some of the treasures of the Library's Numismatic Collection, featuring gold, silver, and bronze coins of Greece and Rome, as well as coins and medals of the Renaissance that were inspired by them. The exhibition will also include manuscripts, prints, and drawings from Princeton University collections and Pirro Ligorio's monumental map of ancient Rome, made in 1561. Although ancient coins were found throughout the Mediterranean region in the millennium following the end of the Roman Empire, it was only in Renaissance Europe that they began to be studied systematically; reproductions appear in some of the earliest printed books to carry engraved illustrations. The Princeton collection is particularly rich in these impressive examples of early printing, ranging from the 1517 edition of Andrea Fulvio's Images of the Illustrious, with its highly decorated settings of each coin image, through Hubert Goltzius's large-scale chiaroscuro reproductions of imperial portraits of the 1550s, to Antonio Augustín's late sixteenth-century systematic classification of ancient coinage and guidelines for detecting counterfeits. The role that the study of ancient coins played in Renaissance culture will be illustrated through the display of art works of the period that depict objects of classical antiquity, most notably a drawing by Parmigianino in the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum with an image of the goddess Minerva apparently derived from one on Roman coins. Selected Renaissance coins and medals will highlight the efforts of rulers of the period to present themselves in the guise of ancient leaders. Coin imagery in Renaissance literature will be shown by the pairing of Tudor coins with early editions of Shakespeare's history plays, which are particularly rich in puns on coin names and details. A daylong symposium, "The Rebirth of Antiquity: Numismatics, Archaeology, and Classical Studies in the Culture of the Renaissance," will be held on Friday, November 9, to celebrate the opening of the exhibition that afternoon at 4:30. The symposium is free and open to the public; individuals who wish to attend should pre-register by contacting Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics (609- 258-9127; astahl@princeton.edu). "Numismatics in the Renaissance" is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus Wednesday evenings until 7:45 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Exhibition tours will be offered to the public at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays: November 18, 2007, and March 16 and June 1, 2008. Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum | |
PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
V10 2007 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE