Chaponnière & Firmenich SA
Auction 12 18 Oct 2020
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ITALY. Stato Pontificio. Pius VI, 1775-1799. Gold medal 1791 Anno XVII by Giovanni Hamerani. 40 mm. Draining of the Pontine Marshes. Obv. PIVS SEXTVS - PONT MAX A XVII. Bust right. Rev. AGRO POMPTIN COLONIS FEST / MDCCXCI. Allegory of the Pontine Marshes. Bart. 791. AU. 28.86 g. RR AU cleaned
Pope Pius VI conceived a project of effectively draining the Pontine Marshes area (a rampant area of malaria since Antiquity). Under the direction of the engineer Gaetano Rappini, the drainage works lasted about twenty years. These titanic achievements made it possible to make these lands healthy and available for agricultural production, but unfortunately for only a short period of time. At the end of the 19th century, the canals were blocked, and the area again became uncultivated.
Pope Pius VI conceived a project of effectively draining the Pontine Marshes area (a rampant area of malaria since Antiquity). Under the direction of the engineer Gaetano Rappini, the drainage works lasted about twenty years. These titanic achievements made it possible to make these lands healthy and available for agricultural production, but unfortunately for only a short period of time. At the end of the 19th century, the canals were blocked, and the area again became uncultivated.