This enigmatic “medal” celebrates Alexander VIII’s election to the papacy in 1689. Noteworthy for its unusually large size and unorthodox finish (burnished figure against a matte surface), this impressive medal (arguably a medallion or sculpture) defies categorization and according to art historian Edward J. Olszewski may be the “medallion” reportedly placed in the Pope’s casket in 1706. Although Alexander VIII is known for his popularity among his subjects and for his charitability, which nearly exhausted the Papal treasury during his reign, his habit of appointing family members to high-ranking church and civil positions garnered criticism.
Object Description
137 ALEXANDER VIII Ottoboni, Pope 1689-91 1689
Obv. Bust to right. Around, ALEXANDER . VIII . P . O . M . CREATVS DIE 6 OCTO; below, 1689
Without reverse
Bronze, 163 mm.
Medallion on the election of the pope, 1689. The large portrait plaques in bronze of popes of the seventeenth century have not been studied as a group, although one has been reasonably attributed to Bernini (L. Opdycke, "A portrait medallion of Clement IX," Fogg Art Museum Acquisitions, 1959-1962, Cambridge, Mass. 1963, pp. 13-19). The plaque of Pope Alexander VIII is at a much humbler level. A piece of similar quality of Pope Pius V, on his beatification in 1672, is also known (published by S. De Caro Balbi in Medaglia, anno. 4, no. 7 [1974], at p. 21, fig. 18).
