Watch List notes:

AN INTERESTING COLLECTION OF COINS OF JULIAN II (THE PHILOSOPHER) AND THE FESTIVAL OF ISIS
The Festival of Isis Faria

Julian II, 360-363. Medallion, Æ 4.05 g. DN FL CL IVLI – ANVS P F AVG Pearl-diademed, and cuirassed bust l., holding Victory on globe and shield decorated with she-wolf and twins motif; in r. field, Gonzaga eagle. Rev. VOTA – PVBLICA Isis and Serapis, facing each other and both with a snake body, holding a vase from which emerges a snake. C 114. Alföldi 68 and pl. II, 19 (this coin illustrated).
Extremely rare and an issue tremendous interest and fascination. An interesting
portrait and a dark brown patina. The flan partially restored on the bottom
part of it, otherwise good very fine


Ex Rollin et Feuardent, 14-26 May 1888, de Quelen 2188; Gilhofer & Ranschburg-Hess, 22 May 1935, Trau 4360, and Sternberg XXXIII, 1997, 384 sales. From the Gonzaga, de Quelen and Trau collections.

The reverse of this interesting Festival of Isis of Julian II medallion shows the husband-wife siblings Serapis and Isis with serpentine bodies, holding between them a large, sacred vase from which emerges a uraeus-snake. The snake is clearly flat-headed, which suggests that it is a cobra, an extremely venomous serpent native to Egypt and which was closely associated with the goddess as amongst all beings only she held the antidote to its venom. The serpentine bodies of the two gods are an unusual feature, but should be construed as dually representing both their chthonic, or underworld, natures, as well as their roles in guaranteeing bountiful harvests. Isis is frequently represented in classical art in the company of serpents (see, e.g., the frescos from Pompeii in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. nos. 8929 and 9558, the latter of which shows Isis holding a cobra with its body entwined around her forearm), and although we lack specific knowledge of the rituals associated with Isiaic worship – our only account of them is the fictitious work, Metamorphoses (or The Golden Ass), by the second century AD author Apuleius – they had to do with death and rebirth, and are putatively related to the Christian concept of ascension. Interestingly, many scholars have also noted the syncretistic nature of the frequently seen image of Isis nursing Horus to that of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Christ.

Of further interest is the small eagle inset in an oval behind the head of Julian on the obverse, which shows that this medallion was at one time in the collection of the Gonzaga family of Mantua in Italy. The collection was first formed under the guidance of Isabella d'Este (1474-1539), a humanist and trendsetter of the times who was deeply committed to the arts and had been educated in the classics – and, very interestingly, has recently been identified as a plausible candidate for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa (see Frank Zöllner, Leonardo da Vinci – Sämtliche Werke, 2007, p. 241) – and was further built upon by her descendants. The mark was applied to all of the coins in the collection by the early 17th century, usually in silver for gold coins, and in gold for silver and bronze. Although some or all of the coin collection may have been sold to pay off family debts, whatever remained was certainly looted in 1630 during the sack of Mantua by imperial Landsknecht forces who pillaged the city over the course of three days. Afterwards, coins from the collection appeared in all of the major coin cabinets of Europe. Although they are rare, coins with the Gonzaga mark still occasionally come up for sale on the coin markets of today, and conveniently provide proof of a pedigree to the early 1600s at the latest if not to the original collection formed by Isabella d'Este herself.