Nomos 11

Italy, Ferrara. Alfonso I d'Este, Duke, 1505-1534. Testone (Silver, 28mm, 9.74 g 12), with dies by Giannantonio da Foligno, undated but c. 1505. .ALFONSVS.DVX.FERRARIAE.III. Bare-headed and cuirassed bust of Alfonso I to right. Rev. .DE.FORTI.DVLCEDO. Samson, helmeted, seated left on camp stool, resting his left hand in his lap and, in his right hand, holding lion’s head from which fly six bees; to left, serpent entwined around tree trunk. Bellesia 4/A. CNI X, p. 444, 18. MIR 270. RM 3. Rare and most attractively toned. Extremely fine.

From a Swiss collection.

Alfonso I, son of Ercole I, became duke of Ferrara on his father’s death. He was well known for his great interest in the manufacture of cannons, which he made in his own foundry. Perhaps the most famous of all his artillery pieces was the powerful gun he made from the broken fragments of Michelangelo’s equestrian statue of Julius II that had been toppled from its place above the gate of Bologna by rebels: Alfonso named it la Giulia! He was also equally well known for his happy marriage with Lucrezia Borgia and for his many acts of cultural patronage. The reverse commemorates Alfonso’s care in having grain shipped from Apulia to Ferrara in time of famine. Since he was primarily interested in military affairs, he was a general who loved building cannon, he is shown in the guise of Samson. The legend comes from the riddle Samson posed to the Philistines in Judges 14:14, “(Out of the eater came forth meat, and) out of the strong came forth sweetness”, which refers to the bee hive that formed in the head of the lion that Samson had killed.