Gold Medal Cast on the Occasion of Kongo Ambassador Antonio Manuel's visit to Pope Paul V
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.King Alvaro II (r. 1587–1614) sent Antonio Manuel, Marquis of ne Vunda, as the Kingdom of Kongo’s ambassador to the Holy See. On both this commemorative medal and on his mortuary statue (in the baptistery of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome), Antonio Manuel is portrayed wearing the distinctive Kongo netted garment. The scene depicted, in which Manuel kneels before the enthroned Pope Paul V, never actually occurred, as Manuel died only a few days after he arrived in Rome in January 1608. Kongo’s embrace of Christianity complemented papal aspirations for a global church as reflected in the coin’s inscription Et Congy adgnoscit pastorem svvm (“And Kongo acknowledges its shepherd”).
Artwork Details
- Title: Gold Medal Cast on the Occasion of Kongo Ambassador Antonio Manuel's visit to Pope Paul V
- Artist: Giorgio Roncetti (Italian, ca. 15th–16th century)
- Date: 1608
- Geography: Italy, Rome
- Medium: Gold
- Dimensions: Diam. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm).
- Classification: Medals
- Credit Line: Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium (HO.1951.26.1)
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing