A Collection of Historical Medals - The Property of a European Collector

Pietro Metastasio, 1805, a copper medal by T. Mercandetti, bust left, reverse seated Muse teaching young winged pupil to play the lyre, 66mm (BDM IV, 31). Minor obverse rim bruise at 2 o’clock, otherwise about extremely fine, scarce (£50-60)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Historical Medals - The Property of a European Collector.

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Pietro Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi, aka Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782), Italian poet, playwright and the most celebrated librettist of 18th century opera seria. By 1730 he had become court poet to the Emperor Charles VI in Vienna. His 27 opera librettos, along with a further 47 librettos for oratorios and smaller works, were sought for their lyricism and dramatic power. Among the composers who set his work to music were Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and Cherubini