Archaeological Museum of Bologna

The medal, created in 1817 by the roman engraver Thomas Mercandetti, depicts on the obverse the bust of Pope Pius VII wearing the tiara and cope adorned by the cross; on reverse is reproduced the group of statues depicting the death of Laocoon and his sons: created in the first century BC by the three rhodians artists Agesander, Atanodoro and Polidoro, the sculpture was in the Roman residence of Tito at the time of Pliny the Elder, who celebrated this as the supreme work of the visual arts.

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The group, found in Rome in 1506 and brought to the Vatican, was stolen with other masterpieces by Napoleone Bonaparte during the Campaign in italy in 1796. In the 1802 the Pope Pio VII designed Antonio Canova main inspector of Antiquities and fine Arts of the State of Church. The artist also had to obtain from Napoleone the restitution of the pieces of art he stole, and he succeeded to get back some operas, as the group of Lacoonte, now in the Vatican Museums.

Provenance: University Collection
Datation: 1817
Material: gold
Dimensions: diam mm 42
Inventory #: 4124