The Size of Things 2 (How big were Pisano's Medallions?)

Like I pointed out in another post, one of the things that surprised me the most about my medallions when I started entering them into competition was the question of 'but why did you make them this size?'

I mean, seriously, where did that question come from? 

It turns out that people put a lot of stock on how big Antonio's Pisano's medallions were historically. I would even argue that the interest is more than my own (and I'm a numbers guy, even on my laziest day). Its not that I don't care. I do. But there isn't some magic formula anyone used. These were not currency, and they did not use a precious metal that was regulated by the governments of the Italian peninsula (where Pisano lived and worked). There really were only three things that Pisano had to consider when selecting the size of his next project. 

1. The wishes of his customer or patron.

2. The physical limitations of his shop.

3. Court Politics of the day (There were people you just did not want to show up.... ever). 

Other than that, this man was an artist, and he was just as free to make his art look like whatever he wanted as was Leonardo da Vinci (who was a contemporary of Pisano, in fact). 

All of that being said, its not that there isn't data out there. There are multiple examples of Pisano's medallions in private collections and museums, with the details of those examples available online. 

This is a trimmed down summary of an active spreadsheet I am working on comparing the different works of Pisano by their physical characteristics. 

The actual sheet can be viewed  here, and it has links where you can read more about the medallions and see images of them. 

The smallest medallion I have noted here is 39mm (1.54"), which is about the size of my Principality Medallions. 

And the largest one looks to be for Alphonso of Aragon, at 111mm (4.37"). 

Note 1: The "year" listed is usually the year that the model was made and that the medallion was cast. In some cases, Medallions were cast as copies off of existing medallions, and the year of the model was either stated, or guessed at. The listings here are for the models that were made to the best of our knowledge. 

Note 2: I get the biggest laugh out of listings like "Copper Alloy", because Bronze is a copper alloy. In truth, the actual metallurgical composition of some of these medallions will require some more research on my part. 

	Name	Year	Diam (MM)	Material
	John VIII Paleologus	1438	85	Bronze
	John VIII Palaeologus	1438	95	Bronze
	John VIII Paleologus	1438	102	Lead
	John VIII Palaeologus	1439	91	Lead
	John VIII Palaeologus	1439	100	Copper alloy
	Leonello D’Este	1440	67.3	Bronze
	Leonello D’Este	1440	68	Bronze
	Leonello D’Este	1440	69	Bronze
	Portrait medal of Niccolò Piccinino	1440	87	Bronze
	Leonello d'Este	1441	65	Copper alloy
	Francesco I Sforza	1441	85.5	Bronze
	Niccolò Piccinino	1441	85.5	Bronze
	Francesco Sforza	1441	86	Bronze
	Niccolo Piccinino	1441	87	Copper alloy
	Filippo Maria Visconti	1441	99.5	Bronze
	Filippo Maria Visconti	1441	100.2	Bronze
	Leonello D’Este	1442	66	Bronze
	Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga	1444	95	Bronze
	Leonello d'Este	1444	96	Bronze
	Leonello D’Este	1444	99	Bronze
	Leonello d'Este	1444	103	Bronze
	Novello Malatesta	1445	82.7	Bronze
	Domenico Novello Malatesta	1445	84	Bronze
	Sigismondo Malatesta	1445	98	Bronze
	Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga	1445	99	Copper alloy
	Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta	1445	100	Bronze
	Sigismondo Malatesta	1445	102	Bronze
	Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta	1445	103	Bronze
	Vittorino Da Feltre	1446	65	Bronze
	Vittorino Rambaldoni da Feltre	1446	65	Bronze
	Cumano (Belloto), Scholar	1447	57.2	Bronze
	Pier Candido Decembrio	1447	77	Bronze
	Cecilia Gonzaga	1447	81.1	Bronze
	Cecilia Gonzaga	1447	84	Copper alloy
	Cecilia Gonzaga	1447	84	Bronze
	Ludovico III Gonzaga	1447	99	Bronze
	Ludovico Gonzaga III	1447	102	Bronze
	Alfonso V, King of Aragon & Sicily	1448	106.5	Bronze
	Don Inigo d'Avalos	1449	79	Bronze
	Don Iñigo d’Avalos	1449	80	Copper alloy
	Alfonso V, King of Aragon & Sicily	1449	99	Bronze
	Alphonso of Aragon	1449	111	Bronze