Sigismund II Augustus

The beginnings of medal-making in Poland are linked to the reign of the last two representatives of the Jagiellonian dynasty. Both Sigismund I the Old and his son were quite often portrayed by various artists. One of them was Dominicus Venetus. Like many other artists of his era, he signed his name on the medal he made. Unfortunately, this does not make it easy to identify the author, although he was an outstanding artist. The presented medal was probably created on the occasion of the assumption of royal rule by Sigismund Augustus, which is indicated by the date of its production. What draws attention is the meticulous modelling of the images, both on the obverse and the reverse. The portrait of the King, clearly referring to antique models, is one of the most individual and expressive portraits of this ruler. Also interesting is the composition of the obverse, where the royal crown was placed not on the ruler's head, but next to it. With even greater expression, the artist modelled the image of the heraldic eagle on the reverse, where the date of the medal's production and the author's signature were placed on the rim. The figure of Dominic Venetus is not known from other works of this period, and it seems that an artist of this measure could not be the author of a single work. Hence, attempts were made to identify him with other well-known artists of the mid-16th century. For obvious reasons, a person connected with Venice was sought. Initially, it was assumed that Dominicus Venetus was a Venetian painter Domenico Campagnola, who lived between 1500-1564. However, there is no indication that the artist ever visited Poland, and the image of Zygmunt August appears to have been created from nature. Later, another painter active in Poland, Pietro degli Ignanatti, was pointed out because of the signature he put on a painting of the Crucifixion, made for the Cracow cathedral. The author used the notation Petrus Venetus, which has led to his identification with the medal-maker Dominicus, but there is a lack of any evidence or even more serious premises supporting both hypotheses. Unfortunately, given the current state of research, the extremely talented author of the medal depicting Sigismund Augustus must remain anonymous.

The presented medal is a copy created after the middle of the 19th century. It was cast in cast iron, a material not often used in medal-making.

Leszek Poniewozik