MILAN. GIAN GALEAZZO MARIA SFORZA - REGENCY OF BONA DI SAVOIA, 1476-1480. Testone (or Grosso da 20 Soldi). (face of St. Ambrose) BONA 7 IO GZ M DVCES MELI VI Veiled bust r. of Duchess Bona of Savoy. R/ (face of St. Ambrose) SOLA FACTAS SOLVM DEVM SEQVOR The phoenix with spread wings at the stake. Crippa 2/A var. CNI 11/13 and 15/16. RMM 6. MIR 218/1. Very rare. g. 9.63. Diam. mm. 28.36. Arg. Imperceptible scratches. BB/q.SPL Specimen from the P. & P. Santamaria auction, Rome Nov. 5, 1924, Vaccari Collection, lot no. 407 (adjudicated at 730 lire), and from the Adolph Hess auction, Zurich, Jan. 31, 1994, lot no. 1128 and from the Negrini auction, Milan Nov. 26, 1998, lot no. 1971 (illustrated in the catalog cover and adjudicated at 14,500.00 lire). That of Bona of Savoy is one of the first female portraits on Italian coins since the Roman Empire. According to the testimony of a Piacenza chronicle of the time, this grosso da 20 soldi, along with the two-ducat gold coin bearing the same portrait of Bona with her son Gian Galeazzo Maria, would have been minted in 1479 (Saetti 2002, pp. 244-245). The name of the artist who made the coinage is unknown; however, the activity for the Milan mint of artists such as Ambrogio da Civate and Zanetto Bugatto is documented in those years, and perhaps this portrait of Bona could also be attributed to one of them (Crippa C. and S. 1998, p.127). The Arab phoenix depicted on the reverse of this very rare head of Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza with his mother Bona of Savoy is a symbol of immortality, as this fabled bird was believed to be reborn from its own ashes. Widowed by her husband Galeazzo, who was murdered on December 26, 1476, Duchess Bona assumed guardianship of her son Gian Galeazzo, who was not yet seven years old, and regency of the State of Milan. She was joined in the government of the Duchy by Cicco Simonetta, who had already been her husband's faithful secretary. Simonetta's fortunes were very short-lived, undermined by the hostility of Bona's brothers-in-law who wanted to seize power and in particular Ludovico Maria known as the Moor. In September 1480 Bona agreed to a rapprochement with the Moor, and this caused not only the end of Simonetta, who was soon arrested and beheaded, but also of Bona's regency, which in November of the same year had to relinquish guardianship of her son and retreat to Abbiategrasso castle. Returning in 1495, after the untimely death of Gian Galeazzo, to France, where she had grown up, Bona obtained in 1500 from her nephew Filiberto II, Duke of Savoy, an estate in Fossano and resided there until his death on November 17, 1503. Specimen from the P. & P. Santamaria auction, Rome Nov. 5, 1924, Vaccari Collection, lot no. 407 (adjudicated at 730 lire), and from the Adolph Hess auction, Zurich, Jan. 31, 1994, lot no. 1128, and from the Negrini auction, Milan Nov. 26, 1998, lot no. 1971 (illustrated in the catalog cover and adjudicated at 14,500.00 lire). That of Bona of Savoy is one of the first female portraits on Italian coins since the Roman Empire. According to the testimony of a Piacenza chronicle of the time, this grosso da 20 soldi, along with the two-ducat gold coin bearing the same portrait of Bona with her son Gian Galeazzo Maria, would have been minted in 1479 (Saetti 2002, pp. 244-245). The name of the artist who made the coinage is unknown; however, the activity for the Milan mint of artists such as Ambrogio da Civate and Zanetto Bugatto is documented in those years, and perhaps this portrait of Bona could also be attributed to one of them (Crippa C. and S. 1998, p.127). The Arab phoenix depicted on the reverse of this very rare head of Gian Galeazzo Maria Sforza with his mother Bona of Savoy is a symbol of immortality, as this fabled bird was believed to be reborn from its own ashes. Widowed by her husband Galeazzo, who was murdered on December 26, 1476, Duchess Bona assumed guardianship of her son Gian Galeazzo, who was not yet seven years old, and regency of the State of Milan. She was joined in the government of the Duchy by Cicco Simonetta, who had already been her husband's faithful secretary. Simonetta's fortunes were very short-lived, undermined by the hostility of Bona's brothers-in-law who wanted to seize power and in particular Ludovico Maria known as the Moor. In September 1480 Bona agreed to a rapprochement with the Moor, and this caused not only the end of Simonetta, who was soon arrested and beheaded, but also of Bona's regency, which in November of the same year had to relinquish guardianship of her son and retreat to Abbiategrasso castle. Returning in 1495, after the untimely death of Gian Galeazzo, to France, where she had grown up, Bona obtained in 1500 from her nephew Filiberto II, duke of Savoy, an estate in Fossano and resided there until his death on November 17, 1503.