Renaissance Medal Preserves the Face of Byzantine Emperor
by Athens Bureau · Greek City TimesA remarkable Renaissance medal continues to preserve the likeness of John VIII Palaiologos, the penultimate emperor of the Byzantine Empire, who died on 31 October 1448.
The portrait, created by celebrated Italian artist Pisanello around 1438–1439, offers a rare visual record of the Byzantine ruler and his encounter with Renaissance Italy.
John VIII travelled to Italy in 1438 to attend the Council of Ferrara, later transferred to Florence, where Byzantine and Western Church representatives sought to negotiate the reunification of the Greek and Latin Churches.
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During the emperor’s visit, Pisanello produced the celebrated medal depicting John VIII in profile, wearing an elaborate tall hat and imperial clothing.
The Greek inscription surrounding the portrait reads “John, King and Emperor of the Romans, the Palaiologos”.
The reverse of the medal depicts the emperor on horseback in a rocky landscape, accompanied by an attendant and approaching a cross.
The work is considered a landmark in Renaissance medal-making, helping establish the portrait medal as an important artistic form across Italy and Europe.
John VIII ruled as sole emperor from 1425 until his death in 1448. His reign unfolded during the final decades of the Byzantine Empire, as Ottoman expansion increasingly threatened Constantinople.
He was succeeded by his brother Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, who died defending Constantinople during its fall to the Ottomans in 1453.
More than five centuries later, Pisanello’s portrait remains one of the most recognisable artistic representations of a Byzantine emperor.
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.
Featured image: Pisanello’s medal of John VIII Palaiologos, c.1438–39, Museo del Bargello, Florence. Photo: Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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