The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

MEDALS BY G. M. POMEDELLO. 335
winged genius, kneeling on one knee, writes on a shield
suspended from an oak-tree ; above, an eagle bears a
wreath ; in the exergue appears the artist's device. The
diameter of the piece, which is cast in bronze, is 35 milli-
metres. The medal is of some importance, as being the
first of the long series executed for this monarch, and it is
also interesting on the side of the artist, inasmuch as it is
probably one of his earliest works, his first dated medal
being of the year 1519. It is figured
in Van Mieris
(vol. ii. p. 49), and is assigned by him to the date 1517, in
which year Charles first went to Spain to enter on his
sovereignty. The medal, according to Van Mieris, cele-
brates the victories gained by the troops of Charles over
those of Gelderland. The Duke of this province had been
almost constantly at war with Maximilian, the grandfather
of Charles.
The singular device which alone affords the clue to the
authorship of the medal appears to be an apple (pomello,
pomedello) traversed by a monogram, varying slightly in
form in different specimens, but which can only be construed
into the five letters Z, V, I, A, and N. As
Pomedello appears to have worked much in Venice, it has
been plausibly suggested that the combination may mean
ZAN or ZVAN, the Venetian pronunciation of the name
Giovan. It is, however, quite as likely that it may
stand for NANNI, an abbreviation of the same name.
In addition to the device and monogram, a small instrument,
perhaps a chasing-tool, is to be seen lying on either
side. The form of the is apple so unnatural, and the
monogram is so obscure, that its ownership could hardly
have been traced but for the fact that it is accompanied by
Pomedello's full signature in the case of three of his
medals, representing (1) a certain Canossa ; (2) Stefano