Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, 1417-1468, Lord of Rimini and Fano [obverse] c. 1450 - 1451

This bronze medal portraying Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, was created by Matteo de' Pasti in fifteenth-century Italy. The image invokes classical authority and underscores the sitter’s importance, as medals depicting rulers and important figures circulated widely during the Renaissance. Renaissance humanism placed renewed emphasis on the individual, which created demand for portraiture. This medal operates within a culture of patronage, where powerful families like the Malatesta commissioned art to enhance their status. Sigismondo, a controversial figure, used art and architecture to legitimize his rule and promote himself as a cultured leader, even though he was considered a tyrant by his contemporaries. The portrait medal allowed for wider distribution of his image than painting or sculpture alone. Historians look to surviving letters, financial records, and other documents to learn more about the commissions and to reconstruct the motivations of artists and patrons. Art is never created in a vacuum, and its meaning always depends on its social and institutional context.