COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS, World Medals, Italy, Urbano Savorgnan (1704-1777), Priest with the Congregation of the Oratorians or Filippini and Numismatist, Venetian Bronze Medal, 1777, by Francesco Corazzini, bust right, wearing cap and gown, VRBANO SAVORGNANO PATRIT VEN PBRO ORAT BONON, rev legend in and below olive and oak wreath, SENAT PRAEF INSTIT V B M D D / SVPELL CONLAT AD INCREM SCIENT ET ART, 64mm (Voltolina 1627; BDM I, 458; Johnson II, 282). Small verdigris stain on reverse, very fine and rare.
Urbano Maria Savorgnan was born in Venice in 1704, one of eight brothers and two sisters. He devoted himself to a religious life, joining the Filippini in Bologna during which time he formed a fine collection of medals, which he left in his will to the Institute of Science and Arts of the city of Bologna. After his death, the Institute commissioned this medal as a token of thanks. The Oratorians or Filippini were founded in 1551 and named after Saint Philip Neri. They, like the Jesuits, were one of the new religious orders established in the mid-16th century as part of the Counter-Reformation.
Estimate: £150-200