Incomparable medals…of…sublime antiquity: The culture of ancient coinage in Padua between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries

From an extraordinary dispersed ancient treasure to the numismatic collecting of the 14th century to the collections that still feed and make valuable the collections of city institutions. Padua’s connection with the world of ancient coinage is strong. And today bearing witness to it, also bringing to light precious documents and unpublished finds, are three cultural pillars of the city: the Municipality of Padua with the Civic Museums, the University of Padua with the Department of Cultural Heritage, and the Library of the Bishop’s Seminary of Padua.

The exhibition

The exhibition, hosted at Palazzo Zuckermann from Sept. 26 to Nov. 16, 2025, proposes to retrace the numismatic tradition of the area by illustrating with coins, medals, cones, manuscripts, photographs and printed books, not only the collections still present in Padua today, but also the relationship with Paduan and Venetian culture, still rooted and vital today.

One has to go back in time and enter the mystery, the one around a real treasure of gold coins discovered in the Middle Ages in what is now Cesare Battisti Street, but then completely lost. Today there is no trace of that treasure, but it remains a starting point to connect the thread of the historical link that is well present in many documents and places.

A cultural pillar is the presence in Padua of Francesco Petrarch, who is credited, among others, with awakening interest in ancient coinage. The first of the three sections of the exhibition is dedicated to him: From the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. From Petrarch to Cavino in Humanist and Renaissance Padua. . The poet succeeded in stimulating attention to ancient coinage and its historical, archaeological and art-historical importance, managing to involve in this particular interest even personalities of the time close to him, such as Lombardo della Seta and Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio. A combination capable of stimulating new curiosities and cultural phenomena, including the birth of the medal within the Carrarese court in 1390 on the model of the Roman imperial coin. From here we come to the depictions of coins as the inspiration of influential artists, Donatello and Mantegna above all. Moving forward in time, it becomes clear how the “numismatic source” is important for such figures of the Paduan cultural scene as Pietro Bembo, Giovanni Maria Falconetto, Alessandro Maggi, Marco Mantova Benvides, and Giovanni da Cavino.
In this section, in addition to the plaque with Petrarch’s bust and the 16th-century edition of the Sonnets, shreds of the tunic in which the poet was buried are displayed in two showcases. Also on display are medals from the 1390s depicting Francis I and Francis II da Carrara and some antique-inspired tesserae by the engravers of the Venetian Da Sesto family. And, among other pieces, an original coinage by Giovanni da Cavino.

The following sections, From the 17th to the 19th centuries. From Charles Patin and Giovanni de Lazzara at the Gabinetto di Numismatica e Antiquaria of the University of Padua, to Antonio Canova, at the Bottacin Museum , go into how ancient coinage has been examined and valued since the seventeenth century. While John de Lazzara is credited with being among the first in Europe to understand the historical importance of medieval coinage, medical professor Charles Patin is credited with his efforts to study Roman coinage. Experiences expand with the establishment of the Cabinet of Numismatics and Antiquaria in 1734. The path of collecting and public enjoyment of donations opened up: the collection of Antonio Canova, thanks to the foresight of his half-brother Giovanni Battista Sartori Canova, was donated to the Seminary of Padua in 1837, while the merchant Nicola Bottacin left to the City of Padua his collection of art and coins, which we can still admire today at the eponymous Museum in Palazzo Zuckermann.
These sections also illustrate the collections of ancient coins, formerly of San Giovanni di Verdara, that continue to inspire seventeenth- and eighteenth-century art. In addition, ample space is given to the collections of Canova and Bottacin. The focus here is also on Byzantine and Islamic coins, as well as very recent acquisitions of the Bottacin Museum from the collection of Luigi Beschi and Guido Zavattoni.

In the last section, The 20th century. A widespread heritage: coins and medals in the public heritage of Padua. , it is shown how interest in and knowledge of heritages acquired in the past has developed. In particular, this part of the exhibition is devoted to the university and academic institutions where coin and medal collections are preserved: the Liviano Museum of Archaeological Sciences and Art, the Medagliere of the University of Padua at the Center for the History of the University of Padua, the Vincenzo Pinali and Giovanni Marsili Historical Library of Medicine and Botany, the Accademia Galileiana Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts in Padua, and the University Library. Important prominence is given to Roberto de Visiani and Carlo Anti, with coins from the excavations at Tebtynis and monetary casts from the gypsoteca of the Museo Liviano. The last showcases are reserved for the oselle of the University of Padua and the Circolo Numismatico Patavino.

Inauguration: Friday, September 26, 2025, 12 noon – atrium Palazzo Zuckermann

Free guided tours are scheduled at 11:00 a.m. on Sept. 28, Oct. 11 and 26, Nov. 8, 2025.
To make reservations write to: museo.bottacin@comune.padova.it.

Info

Zuckermann Palace
33 Corso Garibaldi
September 26-November 16, 2025
Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
free admission

With the contribution of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo.

Edited by
Michele Asolati, Full Professor of Numismatics – University of Padua
Giovanna Bergantino, Director Library Bishop’s Seminary of Padua
Marco Callegari, Library Museum Bottacin – Civic Museums of Padua
Valeria Vettorato, Curator Museum Bottacin – Civic Museums of Padua