A major exhibition on "Numismatics in the Renaissance" will be on
view in the Main Exhibition Gallery of Firestone Library at Princeton
University from November 9, 2007, through July 20, 2008. The
exhibition will include rare fifteenth- and sixteenth-century volumes
from Princeton's Rare Books Division that discuss and illustrate
ancient coins, and a display of some of the treasures of the
Library's Numismatic Collection, featuring gold, silver, and bronze
coins of Greece and Rome, as well as coins and medals of the
Renaissance that were inspired by them. The exhibition will also
include manuscripts, prints, and drawings from Princeton University
collections and Pirro Ligorio's monumental map of ancient Rome, made
in 1561.
Although ancient coins were found throughout the Mediterranean region
in the millennium following the end of the Roman Empire, it was only
in Renaissance Europe that they began to be studied systematically;
reproductions appear in some of the earliest printed books to carry
engraved illustrations. The Princeton collection is particularly rich
in these impressive examples of early printing, ranging from the 1517
edition of Andrea Fulvio's Images of the Illustrious, with its highly
decorated settings of each coin image, through Hubert Goltzius's
large-scale chiaroscuro reproductions of imperial portraits of the
1550s, to Antonio Augustín's late sixteenth-century systematic
classification of ancient coinage and guidelines for detecting
counterfeits.
The role that the study of ancient coins played in Renaissance
culture will be illustrated through the display of art works of the
period that depict objects of classical antiquity, most notably a
drawing by Parmigianino in the collection of the Princeton University
Art Museum with an image of the goddess Minerva apparently derived
from one on Roman coins. Selected Renaissance coins and medals will
highlight the efforts of rulers of the period to present themselves
in the guise of ancient leaders. Coin imagery in Renaissance
literature will be shown by the pairing of Tudor coins with early
editions of Shakespeare's history plays, which are particularly rich
in puns on coin names and details.
A daylong symposium, "The Rebirth of Antiquity: Numismatics,
Archaeology, and Classical Studies in the Culture of the
Renaissance," will be held on Friday, November 9, to celebrate the
opening of the exhibition that afternoon at 4:30. The symposium is
free and open to the public; individuals who wish to attend should
pre-register by contacting Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics (609-
258-9127; astahl@...).
"Numismatics in the Renaissance" is free and open to the public.
Gallery hours are weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus Wednesday
evenings until 7:45 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5
p.m. Exhibition tours will be offered to the public at 3:00 p.m. on
Sundays: November 18, 2007, and March 16 and June 1, 2008.