Alessandro Caimi [obverse] 1556

This is Alessandro Caimi [obverse], made by Pier Paolo Galeotti in 1561. The artwork is made of bronze. The artist has taken great care to model Caimi's features. It has been cast, and then chased to bring out the details. Notice the texture of the hair, beard and clothing, achieved through the process of tooling the metal. The inscription, too, is not simply stamped, but carefully worked into the surface. The production of a bronze artwork like this would involve the work of many hands, from the mining and smelting of the metal to the workshops where the design was realized. This brings to mind the complicated economy that such an artwork implies. While we might focus on Galeotti’s skill and artistry, the medal itself represents the combined labor of many individuals, and the social and economic structures that made its creation possible.