SIXTUS V

(April 24, 1585 — August 27, 1590

	Æ Obv. • SIXTVS • V • PONT • OPT • MAX • • L • PAR • Bust of the Pope, r., bearded, wearing camauro and mozzetta.
	Rev. • TVTVM • REGIMEN • • ROMA • Allegorical figure of Roma, seated, with various treasures gathered on all sides Engraver: Lorenzo di Parma Mazio, 136. Spink, 761. .

	AE Obv. • SIXTVS • V • PONT • MAX • ANN • III • Bust of the Pope, r., tonsured and bearded, wearing cope
	Rev. CVRA PONTIFICIA The Blessed Virgin with the Christ Child, c., surrounded by four figures, representing the foci of the new street system constructed by order of Sixtus V: S. Lorenzo, S.Giovanni Laterano, S. Maria Maggiore. Mazio, 138. [a modern] Spink, 7791. .

See F.Artaud de Montor, Histoire des souverains Pontifes romains IV (Paris 1851), p. 415.

	AE Obv. • SIXTVS • V • PONT • MAX • ANN • III • Bust of the Pope, r., tonsured and bearded, wearing cope
	Rev. EXALTAVIT HVMILES 1587 Statues of SS. Peter and Paul, on twisted columns Mazio, 139. [a modern restrike] Spink, 781. .

	AE Obv. • SIXTVS • V • PONT • MAX • ANN • III • Bust of the Pope, r., tonsured and bearded, wearing cope
	Rev. • TERRA • MARI • SECVRITAS • 1588 Five ships on the sea, cloud above Mazio, 140. [a modern restrike] Spink, 784.

	AG Obv. • SIXTVS • V • PONT • MAX • AN • V • Bust of the Pope, r., tonsured and bearded, wearing cope
	Rev. • PONS • FELIX • • AN • DOM • M • D •\| LXXXIX • The Ponte Felice, at Magliano Sabina, the current of the Tiber River below (a pun on the Pope's Christian name, Felice Peretti) Spink, 791. .

Sixtus V, in the first year of his reign, 1585

AE [pierced]

Obv.

SIXTVS•V•PONT•MAX•AN •I

•1585•

Bust of Pope Sixtus, facing r., wearing cope. Sixtus was a Franciscan, and wears the greater tonsure.

St. Francis of Assisi, holding up the walls of the collapsing Lateran Basilica

Rev.

VADE• FRAN• REPARA

St. Francis of Assisi holding up the collapsing walls of the Lateran Basilica (according to the dream of Pope Innocent III, recorded in the Life of St. Francis) Sixtus V restored the building.

Mazio, —
Spink, #768.
.

The story of the dream is told by Thomas of Celano in the Second Life of St. Francis, chapter 11 (ed. L. Amoni [Roma 1880] p. 30; ed. A.G.F. Howell [London: Methuen] p. 162). The dream is commemorated in a fresco by Giotto in the upper church of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi.See F.Artaud de Montor, Histoire des souverains Pontifes romains IV (Paris 1851), p. 415. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), s.v. "Francis", p. 223.

The Dream of Pope Innocent, by Giotto

Sixtus V, in the last year of his reign, 1590

AE

Obv.

• SIXTVS • V • PONT • MAX •

| AN • VI•

Bust of Pope Sixtus, facing l., wearing cope. Sixtus was a Franciscan, and wears the greater tonsure.

Rev.

• SECVRITAS • POPVLI • ROMANI •

Allegorical figure of Security, seated on elaborate chair, undraped, contemplating a spear; a table at her left.

Mazio, 143
Spink, #803. .

AE

Obv.

• SIXTVS • V • PONT • MAX •

| AN • VI•

Bust of Pope Sixtus, facing l., wearing cope. Sixtus was a Franciscan, and wears the greater tonsure.

Rev.

• MEM • FL • CONSTANT • RESTITVTA

(on one base:) OPVS | PHID
(on the other base:) OPVS | PRAX

The Dioscuri, on large inscribed bases, the pair erected in the Piazza del Quirinale (Montecavallo) by Sixtus V, having been removed from the ruins of the Baths of Constantine.

Mazio, 145
Spink, #800. .

F. Artaud de Montor, Histoire des Souverains Pontifes romains IV (Paris 1851) p. 414-415. The statues were believed to have been the work of Pheidias and of Praxiteles; they are in fact Roman copies of Greek originals, erected in the 4th century A.D. They were erected at their present site under the direction of Domenico Fontana, who was responsible for the inscriptions.

The Piazza del Quirinale with the Dioscuri, by G. Vasi

January 17, 2010 4:02 PM

John Paul Adams, CSUN
john.p.adams@csun.edu

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