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CC 413 2021
Numismatic cover
BU
Numismatic cover
Vatican · 450th birthday of Caravaggio
Mintage3,000
Issue price€46.00
Issue date25 Jun 2021
PackagingNumismatic cover
Edge lettering2 ★ × 6, alternately upright/inverted
Issue occasion
The commemorative coin marks the 450th birthday of Caravaggio. The design shows the “Boy with a Basket of Fruit” from a painting by the artist, as well as the inscription “CARAVAGGIO” and the years “1571–2021”.
The design
The coin design shows the Boy with a Basket of Fruit from the painting by Caravaggio. The name of the issuing state, “CITTA’ DEL VATICANO”, is arranged in a semicircle along the upper edge. The mint mark “R” can be seen on the left. At the bottom is the inscription “CARAVAGGIO”, with the dates “1571-2021” below it. The initials “CP” of the artist Chiara Principe can be seen at the bottom right. The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer coin ring.
Background on the topic
Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, was born in Milan in 1571. He received his artist’s name from the Lombard town of Caravaggio, where his family originated. After training in Milan, he went to Rome, where he initially worked under difficult financial conditions. Later, he received commissions for churches and private collections. His Roman works include paintings for San Luigi dei Francesi and Santa Maria del Popolo.
His painting is characterised by lifelike figures, strong contrasts of light and dark, and lighting that highlights individual people or actions from a dark pictorial space. He often depicted religious figures using contemporary models and without idealising distance. As a result, biblical scenes appeared like events observed at close hand. This pictorial language influenced numerous painters of the European Baroque.
Caravaggio’s life was also marked by legal disputes and violence. After killing a man in a dispute in Rome in 1606, he fled the Papal States (Kirchenstaat). In the following years, he stayed in Naples, Malta and Sicily, among other places. He died in Porto Ercole in 1610 while attempting to return to Rome.
The detail used on the coin comes from an early work from his Roman period. The painting combines a portrait of a figure with a detailed depiction of various fruits and leaves. Ripe, damaged and withering plant parts are rendered with the same precision as the young model’s pose and clothing. The painting is now in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. It originally belonged to the collection of the painter Giuseppe Cesari and came into the possession of Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the early 17th century.
For the Vatican, the anniversary provided an opportunity to commemorate a painter closely associated with Rome and ecclesiastical art. Caravaggio’s works were often created for Catholic patrons; the Vatican Museums (Vatikanische Museen) also house his The Entombment of Christ (Grablegung Christi).
His painting is characterised by lifelike figures, strong contrasts of light and dark, and lighting that highlights individual people or actions from a dark pictorial space. He often depicted religious figures using contemporary models and without idealising distance. As a result, biblical scenes appeared like events observed at close hand. This pictorial language influenced numerous painters of the European Baroque.
Caravaggio’s life was also marked by legal disputes and violence. After killing a man in a dispute in Rome in 1606, he fled the Papal States (Kirchenstaat). In the following years, he stayed in Naples, Malta and Sicily, among other places. He died in Porto Ercole in 1610 while attempting to return to Rome.
The detail used on the coin comes from an early work from his Roman period. The painting combines a portrait of a figure with a detailed depiction of various fruits and leaves. Ripe, damaged and withering plant parts are rendered with the same precision as the young model’s pose and clothing. The painting is now in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. It originally belonged to the collection of the painter Giuseppe Cesari and came into the possession of Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the early 17th century.
For the Vatican, the anniversary provided an opportunity to commemorate a painter closely associated with Rome and ecclesiastical art. Caravaggio’s works were often created for Catholic patrons; the Vatican Museums (Vatikanische Museen) also house his The Entombment of Christ (Grablegung Christi).