The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals (Part I)

ITALY, Ricostruzione della Basilica di San Paulo fuori le mura, Rome [Reconstruction of the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls], 1854, a copper medal signed I. Bianchi, bust of Pius IX left in skull cap, rev. internal view of the basilica, 82mm, 256.39g (Bartolotti 7; Mazio 731; Molinari 216; Istituto Poligrafico Exh. Cat. 1980, 279-80; cf. Münz Zentrum 103, 6934-5; cf. Tkalec 2008, 844; cf. BSJ 43, 711). Extremely fine; in original red gilt-blocked case [this much distressed] £200-£260

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals.

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A fire in July 1823 led to the near-total destruction of the original basilica, which was rebuilt over the next 30 years and reconsecrated by Pius IX on 4 December 1854. The attribution of the medallist responsible was corrected from Ignazio Bianchi to Giuseppe Bianchi by Giancarlo Alteri, the then Director of the Vatican Collection, in March 2012.