Condottieri Medals 49

LVDOVICVS II MARCHIO MANTVAE QVAM PRECIOSVS XPI SANGVIS ILLVSTRAT — Ludovico Gonzaga in an all’antica armour decorated with an image of a hydra; a cloak is visible over his left shoulder, he wears a mortier on his head; a chain composed of Gonzaga suns hangs on his chest, a roundel with a “troncone con la tortorina” device is attached to the chain on leather bands; behind the roundel there are two crossed shields, one with the Gonzaga coat of arms, and another made of a turtle shell

FIDO ET SAPIENTI PRINCIPI FIDES ET PALLAS ASSISTVNT / MELIOLVS SACRAVIT ANNO MCCCCLXXV — Ludovico Gonzaga wearing all’antica armour and paludamentum, in a laureate helmet, seated on a square seat on the side of which the Gonzaga hound device is depicted; his left arm rests on a shield, and he holds a sword in his right; a pair of virtues accompanies him: Faith (Fides) pointing upwards with her right hand, and Wisdom (Pallas) resting on a shield with a Medusa head, holding a helmet and a spear