Francesco and Galeazzo Maria Sforza 15th century

Gian Francesco Enzola created this bronze medal of Francesco and Galeazzo Maria Sforza in Italy in the late fifteenth century. These portrait medals were important visual tools for solidifying the Sforza family's political power. In Renaissance Italy, powerful families like the Sforza used art patronage as a means to enhance their social standing and political legitimacy. The Sforza family ruled Milan, and portrait medals like this one were commissioned to distribute images of the rulers among elites. The medals acted as propaganda, promoting their authority. The choice of bronze and the classical style, referencing ancient Roman coinage, further legitimized the Sforza rule by associating them with the power and prestige of the Roman Empire. Art historians examine such objects, researching family records and the political history of the time, to understand how art served the interests of those in power.